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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. saw — the tool
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. band — a ring
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chest — a box
  8. band — a music group
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. clip — a video
  14. chest — of your body
  15. saw — the tool
  16. pass — a permit
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. charge — in control
  19. clip — for paper
  20. charge — a price
  21. clip — to cut
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. straw — dry grass

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