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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: band · bank · fall · arm · pitcher · kid · hide · clip

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. band — a ring
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. fall — to drop
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bank — for money
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bank — for money
  11. kid — to tease
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. kid — child
  14. clip — to cut
  15. fall — to drop
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. bank — of a river
  20. fall — the season
  21. clip — a video
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. band — a music group

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