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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 120 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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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: saw · band · game · bark · kick · foot · cell · wind

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. foot — a measure
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. wind — moving air
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. kick — in football
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — a phone
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — the tool
  14. game — a match
  15. band — a music group
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. bark — to shout
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. wind — moving air
  22. game — wild animals
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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