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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: wake · clip · cell · ball · arm · bark · rule · tube

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. ball — a great time
  4. wake — a trail
  5. tube — the underground
  6. cell — a phone
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. rule — a law
  12. cell — in biology
  13. tube — a container
  14. rule — government
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. ball — a dance
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. bark — to shout
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. clip — for paper
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. arm — a part of something

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