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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: capital · bound · bass · tube · drill · clip · bark · foot

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. foot — a measure
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. capital — a city
  7. bound — certain
  8. capital — money
  9. bass — the fish
  10. clip — a video
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bound — obliged
  13. tube — the underground
  14. bass — low music
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. drill — army training
  19. tube — a container
  20. drill — the tool
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. drill — a practice
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. clip — for paper

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