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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: branch · foot · bark · object · mine · pitcher · spell · kid

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. object — to protest
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. foot — a measure
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. branch — a division
  11. object — a thing
  12. spell — magic
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. spell — letters
  16. object — an aim
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. kid — child
  19. bark — to shout
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. spell — a short time
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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