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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: racket · band · clip · row · deal · season · hide · snap

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  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. clip — to cut
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. band — a music group
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. snap — to click
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. season — in sport
  13. deal — to handle
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. season — of the year
  18. row — a line
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. clip — a video
  21. band — a ring
  22. row — to paddle
  23. deal — a big deal
  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