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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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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: net · race · bark · arm · roll · lean · band · cell

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. roll — a list
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. net — in sport
  8. roll — a cake
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. net — after costs
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. race — a contest
  13. band — a ring
  14. lean — to bend
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. band — a music group
  18. cell — a phone
  19. race — the arms race
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. net — for catching
  23. cell — in biology
  24. race — humankind

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