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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: clip · band · hand · chair · rush · mine · track · mouse

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. band — a ring
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. clip — a video
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. track — a song
  15. rush — hurry
  16. chair — a leader
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. track — a path
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. band — a music group
  21. clip — to cut
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — in cards
  24. track — to keep track

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