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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. current — of water
  3. land — to come down
  4. content — the amount
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. clip — for paper
  7. land — ground
  8. clip — to cut
  9. band — a ring
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. current — happening now
  12. row — a line
  13. current — electric
  14. content — happy
  15. net — after costs
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. branch — a division
  18. net — for catching
  19. row — to paddle
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. clip — a video
  23. land — a country
  24. net — in sport

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