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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 · track · pitcher · staff · land · kick · clip · club

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. track — to keep track
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. land — ground
  6. club — for golf
  7. staff — employees
  8. land — to come down
  9. club — for dancing
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. clip — a video
  12. staff — a stick
  13. track — a path
  14. club — a group
  15. staff — employees
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. land — a country
  19. bark — to shout
  20. track — a song
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. kick — in football
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. clip — for paper

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