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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: mark · kid · drill · lean · bear · band · clip · chair

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. lean — to bend
  3. band — a ring
  4. drill — a practice
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bear — the animal
  7. lean — thin
  8. drill — the tool
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. clip — for paper
  12. band — a music group
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. mark — a trace
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. mark — a grade
  19. kid — to tease
  20. drill — army training
  21. clip — a video
  22. chair — a leader
  23. bear — the animal
  24. chair — to sit on

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