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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 116 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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. band — a music group
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. ground — crushed
  6. branch — a division
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. hand — in cards
  10. board — to get on
  11. clip — to cut
  12. season — in sport
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. season — of the year
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. board — a committee
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. cap — a hat
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. hand — help
  22. band — a ring
  23. ground — the earth
  24. branch — of a tree

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