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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: wound · wake · lean · clip · tube · band · ball · deal

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wound — an injury
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. clip — to cut
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. ball — a great time
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. clip — for paper
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. deal — to handle
  12. lean — thin
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wake — a trail
  18. band — a music group
  19. tube — the underground
  20. clip — a video
  21. band — a ring
  22. ball — a dance
  23. tube — a container
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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