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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: clip · band · mate · pitch · ground · rash · straw · wound

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. rash — a series
  3. band — a music group
  4. rash — hasty
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. mate — a friend
  11. wound — an injury
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. ground — a position
  15. band — a ring
  16. clip — to cut
  17. ground — crushed
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. ground — the earth
  20. pitch — completely
  21. wound — an injury
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. mate — to breed
  24. band — a rubber band

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