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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stem · bark · pit · rule · band · staff

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. rule — a law
  5. stem — to come from
  6. pit — a hole
  7. band — a ring
  8. rule — government
  9. staff — a stick
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. band — a music group
  14. bark — to shout
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. pit — in a race
  18. staff — employees

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