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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cell · mine · bat · wound · bark · band · can · board

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. band — a ring
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. can — to be able to
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. can — a tin
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. can — a tin
  16. cell — a phone
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cell — in biology
  19. board — to get on
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. bat — the animal
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. band — a music group

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