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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 120 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: row · content · band · stick · fall · bark · game · rest

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. fall — to drop
  4. rest — a break
  5. band — a ring
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rest — what's left
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bark — to shout
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. band — a music group
  15. row — a line
  16. content — the amount
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. row — to paddle
  20. rest — what's left
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. fall — the season
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. content — happy

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