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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: march · arm · net · row · bound · band · clip · saw

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. row — a line
  3. march — music
  4. band — a ring
  5. row — to paddle
  6. clip — a video
  7. bound — certain
  8. net — after costs
  9. clip — for paper
  10. march — the month
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. band — a music group
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. saw — the tool
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — to cut
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. bound — obliged
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. net — in sport
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. net — for catching
  24. bound — tied together

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