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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: rush · hand · ground · spell · race · band · bark · branch

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a music group
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. spell — letters
  7. ground — crushed
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. hand — in cards
  11. ground — a position
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — magic
  14. race — humankind
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. branch — a division
  17. ground — the earth
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. race — a contest
  20. bark — to shout
  21. rush — hurry
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. band — a rubber band

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