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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: mug · racket · perch · band · cold · hide · rule · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. rule — government
  3. mug — a face
  4. rule — a law
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mug — to rob
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. mug — a cup
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. band — a ring
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. band — a music group
  19. clip — a video
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. perch — the fish
  23. cold — an illness
  24. hide — to keep secret

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