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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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. trunk — of a car
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. band — a ring
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. perch — the fish
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. bark — to shout
  17. cold — not warm
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. stem — to come from
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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