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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. saw — the tool
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. bark — to shout
  7. pound — a weight
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. prune — to trim
  13. branch — a division
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. prune — to trim
  17. band — a ring
  18. degree — temperature
  19. band — a music group
  20. degree — an amount
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. degree — from a university
  24. saw — the tool

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