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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 116 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: hand · band · wake · club · key · lean · can · clip

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. club — for dancing
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. club — for golf
  5. can — to be able to
  6. band — a music group
  7. hand — in cards
  8. club — a group
  9. can — a tin
  10. hand — help
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. wake — a trail
  16. key — for a lock
  17. can — a tin
  18. clip — for paper
  19. key — in music
  20. lean — to bend
  21. lean — thin
  22. clip — to cut
  23. key — the most important part
  24. clip — a video

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