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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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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: staff · bank · stem · march · degree · bark · band · cold

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bank — for money
  4. band — a music group
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. staff — a stick
  7. bank — for money
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. staff — employees
  10. stem — to come from
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. cold — not warm
  15. band — a ring
  16. march — the month
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bank — of a river
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cold — an illness
  23. staff — employees
  24. degree — from a university

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