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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: fall · ball · band · clip · scale · dip · tube · bark

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. fall — to drop
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. scale — in music
  7. band — a music group
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fall — the season
  11. ball — a great time
  12. bark — to shout
  13. tube — the underground
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. clip — a video
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. dip — to sink
  18. tube — a container
  19. fall — to drop
  20. scale — size or range
  21. band — a ring
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. clip — to cut
  24. ball — a dance

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