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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: clip · bark · bat · mouse · fork · degree · staff · band

  1. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. staff — employees
  3. degree — from a university
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bat — the animal
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. bark — to shout
  10. staff — a stick
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. clip — a video
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. band — a music group
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. fork — in a road
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. degree — an amount
  21. clip — to cut
  22. staff — employees
  23. band — a ring
  24. bark — of a tree

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