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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: nail · pound · scale · last · bark · hide · land · band

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. band — a ring
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. band — a music group
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. bark — to shout
  7. pound — a weight
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. land — a country
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. scale — size or range
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. last — to go on
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. land — to come down
  17. last — final
  18. land — ground
  19. last — finally
  20. scale — in music
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. pound — for dogs

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