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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: jam · content · pop · lash · hand · clip · band · bark

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. content — happy
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pop — soda
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. pop — music
  12. clip — to cut
  13. hand — help
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. hand — in cards
  18. clip — a video
  19. band — a music group
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. content — the amount
  23. band — a ring
  24. lash — to lash out

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