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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: land · bark · mark · mine · race · tube · bass · row

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  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. bass — the instrument
  2. land — to come down
  3. bark — to shout
  4. land — ground
  5. race — a contest
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. tube — a container
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. race — the arms race
  12. row — a line
  13. bass — low music
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bass — the fish
  16. row — to paddle
  17. race — humankind
  18. mark — a grade
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. mark — a trace
  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