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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: vault · wound · bark · band · squash · bear · pitch · field

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — to shout
  4. squash — the sport
  5. bear — the animal
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — completely
  8. wound — an injury
  9. field — farmland
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. field — for sport
  18. bear — the animal
  19. band — a music group
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. squash — to crush
  22. vault — a safe
  23. field — a subject
  24. band — a ring

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