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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — to shout
  4. drill — army training
  5. land — to come down
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. track — to keep track
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. bass — low music
  11. band — a ring
  12. tube — the underground
  13. land — ground
  14. land — a country
  15. tube — a container
  16. bass — the fish
  17. game — wild animals
  18. track — a song
  19. track — a path
  20. band — a music group
  21. drill — a practice
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — a match
  24. band — a rubber band

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