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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: march · club · bark · branch · lash · mine · press · band

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. club — a group
  3. press — a publisher
  4. march — the month
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a music group
  7. club — for dancing
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. press — to push
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. bark — to shout
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. club — for golf
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. march — music
  20. mine — for digging
  21. press — newspapers
  22. march — the month
  23. branch — a division
  24. lash — to lash out

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