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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: band · clip · rest · bark · pitcher · fine · track · hand

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. clip — for paper
  3. fine — high quality
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. rest — a break
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. clip — a video
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. track — a song
  12. rest — what's left
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. band — a ring
  15. track — a path
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. band — a music group
  19. clip — to cut
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. fine — all right
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. rest — what's left

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