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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: mine · mate · perch · bay · clip · tube · band · bark

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. tube — the underground
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. perch — the fish
  5. bark — to shout
  6. band — a music group
  7. tube — a container
  8. band — a ring
  9. clip — a video
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. mate — a friend
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. mine — for digging
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. clip — for paper
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mate — to breed

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