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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bore · roll · snap · clip · date · file · ball · band

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  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. ball — a great time
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. file — a line of people
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. snap — to click
  6. clip — to cut
  7. roll — a cake
  8. roll — a list
  9. bore — to drill
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bore — to tire
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. file — a tool
  14. date — the fruit
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. ball — a dance
  17. file — a document
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. band — a ring
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. band — a rubber band
  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