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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. craft — boats
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. net — for catching
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. branch — a division
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — in sport
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. band — a music group
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — to shout
  21. craft — a skill
  22. band — a ring
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. branch — 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