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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: bark · spell · band · hide · drill · craft · row · kid

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. kid — child
  3. drill — a practice
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. craft — a skill
  7. spell — a short time
  8. kid — to tease
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. drill — the tool
  11. row — a line
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. spell — magic
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. row — to paddle
  17. band — a ring
  18. spell — letters
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. bark — to shout
  21. drill — army training
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. craft — boats
  24. band — a music group

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