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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. firm — a company
  3. bank — for money
  4. clip — a video
  5. bank — of a river
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bank — for money
  8. band — a music group
  9. shower — to wash
  10. firm — steady
  11. clip — for paper
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — rain
  16. band — a ring
  17. cell — in biology
  18. firm — decided

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