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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. branch — a division
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. band — a ring
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. key — in music
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. date — the fruit
  11. wind — moving air
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. sharp — clever
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — of water
  20. key — for a lock
  21. spring — the season
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. key — the most important part
  24. bark — to shout

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