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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. saw — the tool
  4. toast — bread
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. land — to come down
  7. pitch — completely
  8. cap — a hat
  9. clip — to cut
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. cap — of ice
  12. saw — the tool
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. cap — a lid
  15. band — a music group
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. band — a ring
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. land — a country
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. clip — for paper
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. clip — a video
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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