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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: bound · clip · club · spring · kid · saw · bass · last

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bound — obliged
  3. kid — child
  4. clip — to cut
  5. last — finally
  6. kid — to tease
  7. spring — the season
  8. bound — certain
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — a coil
  11. last — final
  12. bass — low music
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. club — for golf
  15. club — a group
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. saw — the tool
  18. clip — a video
  19. bound — tied together
  20. club — for dancing
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bass — the fish

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