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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 120 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: rock · ground · march · bark · pitcher · fan · clip · kid

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. rock — music
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. ground — the earth
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. clip — to cut
  8. march — music
  9. ground — crushed
  10. clip — a video
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — child
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. march — the month
  16. ground — a position
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. rock — a stone
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. kid — to tease
  21. march — the month
  22. bark — to shout
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. pitcher — a jug

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