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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: clip · sharp · roll · club · net · wound · mine · band

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  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 music group
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. net — for catching
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. roll — a cake
  7. clip — for paper
  8. band — a ring
  9. sharp — clever
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. wound — an injury
  12. club — for dancing
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. net — in sport
  16. club — a group
  17. club — for golf
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. mine — for digging
  21. net — after costs
  22. wound — an injury
  23. roll — a list
  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