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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: mug · bark · cold · squash · pitcher · band · cabinet · branch

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. band — a ring
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. mug — a cup
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. mug — to rob
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. squash — the sport
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mug — a face
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bark — to shout
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. squash — to crush
  23. branch — a division
  24. pitcher — a jug

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