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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. hand — help
  3. vault — a safe
  4. band — a music group
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bark — to shout
  7. stem — to come from
  8. drill — army training
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. drill — a practice
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. band — a ring
  15. drill — the tool
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. hand — in cards
  18. vault — in gymnastics

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