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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · bark · band · last · net · ball · sharp · track

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. track — a song
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. ball — a dance
  7. sharp — clever
  8. track — to keep track
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. net — for catching
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. last — to go on
  13. ball — a great time
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a ring
  16. last — final
  17. last — finally
  18. clip — a video
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. net — in sport
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. net — after costs
  24. band — a rubber band

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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