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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: mine · clip · temple · wound · cue · rash · band · cell

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  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. cue — for pool
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cell — a phone
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rash — a series
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. band — a music group
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cue — a hint
  15. cue — a signal
  16. wound — an injury
  17. band — a ring
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. clip — to cut
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. cell — in biology
  23. rash — hasty
  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