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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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Word bank
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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: hand · row · bark · bowl · content · band · firm · sharp

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. row — a line
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. row — to paddle
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — to shout
  10. band — a ring
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. firm — decided
  13. hand — in cards
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. content — happy
  17. band — a music group
  18. firm — a company
  19. hand — help
  20. firm — steady
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bowl — to roll

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