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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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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 · scale · pound · club · tear · key · wound · band

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. wound — an injury
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. scale — size or range
  6. key — the most important part
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. key — in music
  9. clip — a video
  10. scale — in music
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pound — a weight
  13. band — a music group
  14. tear — from crying
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. clip — for paper
  17. key — for a lock
  18. club — for golf
  19. tear — to rip
  20. band — a ring
  21. club — a group
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wound — an injury
  24. club — for dancing

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