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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: bark · kid · shower · prune · band · lash · march · patient

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. shower — rain
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. band — a music group
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. march — the month
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. shower — to wash
  16. kid — child
  17. march — music
  18. bark — to shout
  19. prune — to trim
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. march — the month
  24. prune — to trim

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