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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: rest · clip · content · band · bat · staff · club · mate

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. band — a ring
  5. band — a music group
  6. club — for dancing
  7. staff — employees
  8. clip — for paper
  9. mate — a partner
  10. club — a group
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. staff — a stick
  13. staff — employees
  14. rest — what's left
  15. clip — a video
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. club — for golf
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rest — a break
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — happy
  24. mate — to breed

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