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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: band · hide · chest · clip · nail · bulb

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. clip — for paper
  5. band — a ring
  6. bulb — for light
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. chest — of your body
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. clip — a video
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. chest — of your body
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. bulb — for light
  17. clip — to cut
  18. chest — a box

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