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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  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. band — a music group
  2. hand — help
  3. bark — to shout
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. board — a committee
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. wake — a trail
  10. clip — for paper
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. mark — a grade
  18. board — to get on
  19. mark — a trace
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — in music
  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