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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 · bear · row · cold · wound · object · can

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. can — a tin
  3. object — an aim
  4. can — a tin
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a ring
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bear — the animal
  9. object — to protest
  10. object — a thing
  11. clip — a video
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. can — to be able to
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. bear — the animal
  21. clip — to cut
  22. row — a line
  23. row — to paddle
  24. clip — for paper

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