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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: land · cue · bark · drill · sharp · roll · band · saw

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. drill — a practice
  3. drill — the tool
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. band — a music group
  6. roll — a cake
  7. band — a ring
  8. saw — the tool
  9. land — to come down
  10. drill — army training
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cue — a signal
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. roll — a list
  17. sharp — clever
  18. cue — a hint
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. cue — for pool
  21. bark — to shout
  22. land — ground
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. land — a country

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