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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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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: stem · field · bark · perch · board · band · game · kid

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. board — a committee
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a ring
  8. field — a subject
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bark — to shout
  12. kid — child
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. kid — to tease
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. field — farmland
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. game — a match
  22. stem — to come from
  23. perch — the fish
  24. board — to get on

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