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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: drill · march · club · spell · bass · bark · date · game

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. spell — magic
  3. march — music
  4. club — for dancing
  5. drill — army training
  6. club — a group
  7. spell — a short time
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. game — a match
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bark — to shout
  12. date — the fruit
  13. bass — low music
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bass — the fish
  16. drill — the tool
  17. march — the month
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. spell — letters
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. drill — a practice
  23. march — the month
  24. club — for golf

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