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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. band — a ring
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. band — a music group
  8. ground — a position
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. rash — a series
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. bear — the animal
  16. rash — hasty
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. branch — a division
  19. bear — the animal
  20. deal — to handle
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. ground — the earth

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