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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 · lean · band · snap · bear · roll · chest · spell

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. chest — of your body
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a ring
  5. bear — the animal
  6. spell — letters
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. roll — a list
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. roll — a cake
  11. spell — magic
  12. bear — the animal
  13. chest — a box
  14. lean — to bend
  15. chest — of your body
  16. lean — thin
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. band — a music group
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. snap — to click
  24. roll — on a roll

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