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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. drill — the tool
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. drill — a practice
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. bound — obliged
  11. hand — in cards
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — certain
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. drill — army training
  17. bass — the fish
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. hand — help
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. bark — to shout
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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