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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 bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. branch — a division
  4. court — of a king
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. wound — an injury
  8. band — a ring
  9. race — a contest
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. race — the arms race
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. court — for sport
  16. rash — hasty
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. rash — a series
  19. race — humankind
  20. bark — to shout
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — completely
  23. wound — an injury
  24. court — of law

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