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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: bore · bark · wake · object · march · clip · row · arm

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. march — the month
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. march — music
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. clip — to cut
  8. march — the month
  9. row — a line
  10. object — to protest
  11. object — a thing
  12. clip — a video
  13. row — to paddle
  14. clip — for paper
  15. object — an aim
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. wake — a trail
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. bore — to tire
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bore — to drill

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