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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: cell · clip · prune · band · object · mine · snap · board

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. band — a music group
  3. board — a committee
  4. clip — to cut
  5. cell — a phone
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. board — to get on
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. snap — to click
  13. cell — in biology
  14. prune — to trim
  15. clip — a video
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. clip — for paper
  19. object — a thing
  20. object — to protest
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. band — a ring
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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