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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. band — a ring
  3. root — of a plant
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. branch — a division
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. root — of a word
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. season — in sport
  14. root — the cause
  15. pitch — completely
  16. date — the fruit
  17. band — a music group
  18. season — of the year
  19. clip — to cut
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. clip — a video
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. wax — to grow

Multiple-meaning words list

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

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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