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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: band · clip · snap · chest · wind · hide · calf · foot

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. foot — a measure
  4. snap — to click
  5. chest — of your body
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. chest — a box
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. clip — for paper
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. clip — a video
  15. chest — of your body
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. wind — moving air
  20. band — a ring
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wind — moving air
  24. calf — a young animal

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