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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. land — ground
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. band — a music group
  5. band — a ring
  6. land — to come down
  7. bark — to shout
  8. roll — a list
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. pound — a weight
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. land — a country
  15. last — finally
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. wound — an injury
  20. roll — a cake
  21. last — final
  22. last — to go on
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pound — to hit hard

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