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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: lie · clip · date · ball · trunk · tear · band · wake

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. clip — for paper
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. clip — a video
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. band — a ring
  12. ball — a dance
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. tear — from crying
  15. lie — to recline
  16. date — the fruit
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. wake — a trail
  21. ball — a great time
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. clip — to cut
  24. band — a music group

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