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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: hand · hide · band · game · bound · cell

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. band — a ring
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bound — tied together
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cell — a phone
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bound — certain
  12. band — a music group
  13. game — a match
  14. game — wild animals
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. bound — obliged
  18. cell — in biology

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