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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: last · game · hand · rule · band · mark · bark · staff

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. rule — government
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — employees
  6. hand — help
  7. last — to go on
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. staff — a stick
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. game — a match
  12. last — final
  13. bark — to shout
  14. band — a ring
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. mark — a trace
  17. band — a music group
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. last — finally
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. rule — a law
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. mark — a grade

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