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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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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. band — a ring
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. net — in sport
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. club — for dancing
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — a phone
  12. prune — to trim
  13. hand — help
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — for catching
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bark — to shout
  19. club — for golf
  20. club — a group
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cell — in a prison

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