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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: drill · hand · ball · pound · band · clip · bark · vault

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. clip — for paper
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. clip — a video
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. vault — a safe
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. drill — a practice
  14. band — a ring
  15. bark — to shout
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. clip — to cut
  18. drill — army training
  19. ball — a great time
  20. pound — a weight
  21. hand — in cards
  22. drill — the tool
  23. band — a music group
  24. pound — to hit hard

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