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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: roll · firm · press · bark · band · cell · mine · row

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. band — a ring
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. press — a publisher
  6. row — a line
  7. firm — steady
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. press — to push
  10. firm — decided
  11. bark — to shout
  12. press — newspapers
  13. cell — a phone
  14. band — a music group
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. cell — in biology
  18. roll — a cake
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. row — to paddle
  22. firm — a company
  23. mine — for digging
  24. mine — an explosive

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