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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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Word bank
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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: game · root · deal · fan · march · hand · band · bark

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. march — the month
  3. game — wild animals
  4. march — the month
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. deal — to handle
  8. march — music
  9. root — of a word
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. root — of a plant
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. hand — in cards
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. hand — help
  17. bark — to shout
  18. band — a ring
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. band — a music group
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. root — the cause
  23. game — a match
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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