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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: face · game · band · mine · clip · pop · wave · nail

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. game — a match
  6. clip — to cut
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. face — to confront
  9. band — a ring
  10. mine — for digging
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. face — part of the head
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. band — a music group
  16. pop — to visit
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pop — soda
  20. face — to point toward
  21. pop — music
  22. game — wild animals
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. mine — an explosive

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