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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: band · clip · mouse · spring · row · bulb · bark · cell

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. spring — a coil
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. row — to paddle
  5. spring — the season
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. band — a music group
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. bark — to shout
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bulb — for light
  15. clip — a video
  16. band — a ring
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. bulb — for light
  22. clip — to cut
  23. spring — of water
  24. cell — in biology

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