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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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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: clip · bore · band · wind · tube · fall · mine · lash

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. wind — moving air
  3. tube — a container
  4. bore — to drill
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. tube — the underground
  7. band — a music group
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. fall — to drop
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. clip — to cut
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bore — to tire
  16. clip — a video
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. mine — for digging
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fall — the season
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. band — a ring

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