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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: rash · land · bark · band · fine · root · date · clip

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. land — a country
  3. date — the fruit
  4. rash — a series
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. land — to come down
  7. root — of a plant
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — to shout
  14. band — a music group
  15. clip — for paper
  16. land — ground
  17. rash — hasty
  18. root — the cause
  19. clip — a video
  20. fine — all right
  21. band — a ring
  22. root — of a word
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. date — on the calendar

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