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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: clip · track · roll · band · hand · ruler · shower · scale

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. band — a music group
  4. clip — a video
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. clip — to cut
  8. shower — rain
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. shower — to wash
  11. clip — for paper
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. hand — help
  14. roll — a cake
  15. track — a song
  16. roll — a list
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — in music
  19. hand — in cards
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. track — a path
  22. band — a ring
  23. ruler — a monarch
  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