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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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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: bass · saw · bark · clip · club · pound · board · game

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. club — for golf
  3. game — wild animals
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. pound — a weight
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bass — low music
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bass — the fish
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. game — a match
  14. board — a committee
  15. board — to get on
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. saw — the tool
  18. club — for dancing
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. club — a group
  23. saw — the tool
  24. clip — a video

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