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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 · band · mate · wound · can · hide · hand · craft

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. craft — boats
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. wound — an injury
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bark — to shout
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. band — a music group
  11. can — a tin
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. craft — a skill
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. mate — a friend
  17. mate — to breed
  18. can — to be able to
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. wound — an injury
  21. band — a ring
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. can — a tin

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