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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: cell · stem · bark · wound · craft · pound · hand · land

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. stem — to come from
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. land — a country
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. bark — to shout
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pound — a weight
  10. craft — a skill
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. cell — in biology
  13. land — ground
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. hand — help
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. wound — an injury
  24. land — to come down

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