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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: row · shower · clip · wax · track · band · lie · chest

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. clip — to cut
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. track — a song
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. shower — to wash
  9. clip — a video
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. row — to paddle
  12. clip — for paper
  13. track — to keep track
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. row — a line
  17. shower — rain
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wax — to grow
  20. band — a ring
  21. chest — of your body
  22. lie — to recline
  23. chest — a box
  24. track — a path

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