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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: bulb · bark · rest · club · branch · hand · field · mine

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. rest — what's left
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. mine — for digging
  6. rest — what's left
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. bulb — for light
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. club — a group
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. club — for dancing
  16. field — farmland
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. field — for sport
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bulb — for light
  22. hand — help
  23. club — for golf
  24. field — a subject

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