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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: content · band · net · clip · chip · squash · mine · hand

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. clip — a video
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. hand — in cards
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. chip — to eat
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. hand — help
  9. clip — for paper
  10. squash — the sport
  11. net — in sport
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. net — for catching
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. content — the amount
  16. squash — to crush
  17. mine — for digging
  18. clip — to cut
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. content — happy
  21. band — a ring
  22. net — after costs
  23. chip — for betting
  24. hand — part of the body

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