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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · bowl · band · clip · spring · squash · wake · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — the sport
  4. row — a line
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. band — a ring
  7. spring — the season
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. band — a music group
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — of water
  17. squash — to crush
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — before a funeral
  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