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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 120 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: clip · bear · mouse · wake · bat · fork · band · row

  1. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. clip — a video
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. row — to paddle
  7. bear — the animal
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. bear — the animal
  10. wake — a trail
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bat — the animal
  13. row — a line
  14. band — a ring
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. clip — for paper
  20. band — a music group
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. fork — in a road
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bat — in an idiom

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