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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 116 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: bat · wound · bay · cell · clip · net · band · pound

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — a video
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. net — after costs
  6. net — for catching
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a music group
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. clip — to cut
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pound — a weight
  22. net — in sport
  23. cell — a phone
  24. band — a rubber band

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