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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 · land · scale · rule · bark · clip · pound · game

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. spell — magic
  3. clip — a video
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. scale — size or range
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. game — a match
  9. rule — government
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. scale — in music
  14. rule — a law
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. spell — a short time
  17. game — wild animals
  18. clip — to cut
  19. spell — letters
  20. clip — for paper
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. bark — to shout
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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