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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: cabinet · cold · prune · bank · band · ruler · clip · nail

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. band — a music group
  3. prune — to trim
  4. band — a ring
  5. clip — a video
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. bank — for money
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. bank — of a river
  16. cold — not warm
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. ruler — for measuring

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