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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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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: pound · suit · land · band · tube · clip · branch · craft

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. suit — to fit
  3. craft — boats
  4. tube — the underground
  5. branch — a division
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. clip — a video
  8. band — a music group
  9. land — a country
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. craft — a skill
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. tube — a container
  16. suit — clothes
  17. land — ground
  18. clip — to cut
  19. land — to come down
  20. pound — a weight
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. clip — for paper
  23. suit — in cards
  24. pound — to hit hard

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