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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: hide · lie · bat · coach · band · cap · wind · clip

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. band — a ring
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. lie — to recline
  6. cap — a hat
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. cap — a lid
  10. clip — to cut
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cap — of ice
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. wind — moving air
  19. band — a music group
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. wind — moving air
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. wind — to turn a key

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