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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: bass · rule · ruler · bark · band · straw · race · spring

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — the season
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bark — to shout
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. race — the arms race
  11. bass — the fish
  12. rule — a law
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. bass — low music
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — government
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a ring
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. race — a contest
  24. race — humankind

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