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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. last — final
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. clip — to cut
  6. band — a music group
  7. clip — a video
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. clip — for paper
  10. pit — in a race
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — finally
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. band — a ring
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. pit — a hole
  17. ball — a dance
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. row — a line
  21. ball — a great time
  22. row — to paddle
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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