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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: bark · stand · rest · land · march · mouse · clip · band

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. march — the month
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bark — to shout
  5. rest — a break
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. clip — a video
  8. band — a ring
  9. clip — for paper
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. stand — to bear
  15. land — ground
  16. clip — to cut
  17. land — a country
  18. rest — what's left
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. march — music
  22. land — to come down
  23. march — the month
  24. band — a music group

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