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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: clip · tube · land · bound · bark · kid · stand · track

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. land — ground
  3. clip — to cut
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. track — to keep track
  6. clip — a video
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. bark — to shout
  12. land — a country
  13. track — a song
  14. stand — to bear
  15. kid — child
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bound — certain
  19. land — to come down
  20. bound — obliged
  21. tube — the underground
  22. track — a path
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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