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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 · bark · net · trunk · clip · spell · hide · bound

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. bark — to shout
  5. net — for catching
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. net — after costs
  8. spell — magic
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bound — certain
  11. band — a ring
  12. clip — to cut
  13. band — a music group
  14. net — in sport
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. spell — letters
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bound — obliged
  23. spell — a short time
  24. clip — a video

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