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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: fan · clip · bass · field · tube · pop · mine · bark

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. field — for sport
  4. pop — to visit
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. clip — a video
  11. field — a subject
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bass — the fish
  14. pop — soda
  15. tube — the underground
  16. bark — to shout
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. clip — to cut
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. tube — a container
  21. pop — music
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. bass — low music
  24. field — farmland

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