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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: bear · clip · stand · bowl · band · bat · prune · rule

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bear — the animal
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. band — a music group
  6. bear — the animal
  7. band — a ring
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. rule — government
  13. clip — a video
  14. rule — a law
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. stand — to bear
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bear — to put up with

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