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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cell — a phone
  4. rash — hasty
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. clip — for paper
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. band — a ring
  9. dip — to sink
  10. rash — a series
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. cell — in biology
  13. tube — a container
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. kick — in football
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. clip — a video
  23. band — a music group
  24. clip — to cut

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