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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: hand · club · clip · plane · cell · present · bound · wave

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. hand — help
  3. present — the time now
  4. clip — to cut
  5. plane — a tool
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. clip — a video
  9. bound — certain
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. club — for dancing
  12. club — for golf
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bound — obliged
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. hand — in cards
  21. club — a group
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. bound — tied together
  24. present — there

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