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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.

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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. spring — a coil
  4. band — a music group
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cap — a lid
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. bark — to shout
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. spring — of water
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. cap — of ice
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. bass — the fish
  20. mine — for digging
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bass — low music
  23. branch — a division
  24. band — a ring

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