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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: rule · band · wax · chest · mark · pound · wind · clip

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. rule — government
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pound — a weight
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. rule — a law
  11. wind — moving air
  12. mark — a trace
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. clip — for paper
  17. chest — a box
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. band — a music group
  20. mark — a grade
  21. wax — to grow
  22. band — a ring
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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