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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: scale · club · bark · clip · row · pound · band · wake

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. club — for dancing
  4. clip — to cut
  5. club — a group
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. row — a line
  8. band — a music group
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. clip — a video
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wake — a trail
  13. scale — size or range
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. band — a ring
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pound — a weight
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. club — for golf
  23. scale — in music
  24. row — to paddle

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