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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: spell · leaves · bark · mine · drill · hand · track · date

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. spell — letters
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. drill — army training
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. drill — the tool
  11. hand — help
  12. bark — to shout
  13. drill — a practice
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. track — to keep track
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. track — a path
  18. spell — magic
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. spell — a short time
  21. date — the fruit
  22. hand — in cards
  23. mine — for digging
  24. mine — an explosive

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