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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. clip — to cut
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. clip — a video
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. ground — the earth
  13. band — a music group
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — employees
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. ground — a position
  19. clip — for paper
  20. pitch — completely
  21. staff — a stick
  22. wound — an injury
  23. ground — crushed
  24. pitch — a sports field

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com