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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 · straw · content · bulb · band · march · firm · rush

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. band — a ring
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. march — the month
  6. bulb — for light
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. firm — decided
  14. band — a music group
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. firm — steady
  17. firm — a company
  18. march — music
  19. content — the amount
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — to shout
  22. march — the month
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bark — of a tree

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