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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: scale · lean · cold · craft · band · content · clip · cabinet

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. lean — to bend
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. lean — thin
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. craft — boats
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. craft — a skill
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. content — the amount
  18. scale — in music
  19. content — happy
  20. band — a music group
  21. clip — a video
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. scale — size or range

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