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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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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: staff · bark · band · clip · file · pound · pit · land

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. staff — a stick
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. land — to come down
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. staff — employees
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. pound — a weight
  9. clip — a video
  10. file — a tool
  11. staff — employees
  12. clip — to cut
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. land — ground
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bark — to shout
  17. file — a document
  18. pit — in a race
  19. pit — a hole
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a music group
  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