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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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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: kid · clip · wound · stick · current · band · capital · board

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. band — a music group
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. current — of water
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. board — a committee
  13. capital — a city
  14. kid — child
  15. current — electric
  16. clip — to cut
  17. kid — to tease
  18. capital — money
  19. clip — for paper
  20. band — a ring
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. wound — an injury
  23. board — to get on
  24. clip — a video

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