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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: mouse · deal · clip · race · bass · band · calf · content

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. bass — the fish
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. race — the arms race
  10. band — a music group
  11. clip — a video
  12. content — the amount
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. bass — low music
  15. race — humankind
  16. band — a ring
  17. content — happy
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. deal — to handle
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. clip — for paper
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. clip — to cut

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