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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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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 · tear · stock · board · clip · cap · wind

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cap — a lid
  3. clip — a video
  4. band — a music group
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cap — a hat
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. clip — for paper
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. stock — goods
  11. cap — of ice
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. content — the amount
  14. board — a committee
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. band — a ring
  18. stock — shares
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. board — to get on
  21. wind — moving air
  22. clip — to cut
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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