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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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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: bark · march · hand · band · arm · field · snap · bound

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. snap — to click
  3. bound — obliged
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. march — the month
  9. bound — certain
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a music group
  12. bark — to shout
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bound — tied together
  18. march — the month
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. field — a subject
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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