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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: band · lean · mine · date · firm · clip · deal · snap

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. firm — steady
  4. firm — a company
  5. date — the fruit
  6. mine — for digging
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. clip — for paper
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. band — a ring
  12. clip — to cut
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. snap — to click
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. lean — thin
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. deal — to handle
  21. clip — a video
  22. lean — to bend
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. firm — decided

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