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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: drill · bass · patient · wound · bark · content · fork · chair

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. wound — an injury
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. fork — in a road
  7. content — happy
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a leader
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bass — low music
  15. drill — the tool
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. drill — a practice
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. drill — army training
  20. content — the amount
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bass — the fish
  24. patient — a sick person

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