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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: bound · hand · land · lie · kid · pop · clip · present

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kid — child
  4. pop — soda
  5. bound — tied together
  6. land — a country
  7. present — there
  8. hand — in cards
  9. present — a gift
  10. kid — to tease
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pop — music
  14. land — ground
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bound — certain
  17. pop — to visit
  18. present — the time now
  19. lie — to recline
  20. land — to come down
  21. bound — obliged
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. lie — an untruth

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