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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: row · bore · season · band · court · nail · clip · straw

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. season — in sport
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. court — of law
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. court — for sport
  9. clip — for paper
  10. season — of the year
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. row — a line
  13. row — to paddle
  14. band — a music group
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. court — of a king
  17. band — a ring
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bore — to drill
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. bore — to tire

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