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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: cell · band · wake · drill · bass · bark · land · wind

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bark — to shout
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bass — the fish
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. cell — a phone
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bass — low music
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. land — to come down
  13. drill — army training
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. land — ground
  16. land — a country
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. drill — the tool
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wake — a trail
  21. drill — a practice
  22. cell — in biology
  23. band — a ring
  24. band — a music group

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