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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. band — a ring
  3. bank — of a river
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bass — low music
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. clip — a video
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. spell — a short time
  13. bank — for money
  14. spell — letters
  15. bank — for money
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. spell — magic
  20. rule — government
  21. row — a line
  22. row — to paddle
  23. clip — to cut
  24. band — a music group

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