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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: cue · ground · bat · clip · pop · club · land · bound

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pop — to visit
  4. bound — tied together
  5. cue — a signal
  6. land — ground
  7. land — to come down
  8. clip — a video
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — for dancing
  11. cue — a hint
  12. cue — for pool
  13. ground — a position
  14. pop — music
  15. bound — certain
  16. club — a group
  17. bat — the animal
  18. pop — soda
  19. land — a country
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — the earth
  24. bat — for baseball

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