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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: band · rash · cell · bear · bark · clip · field · branch

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. field — for sport
  5. rash — hasty
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. cell — a phone
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. field — a subject
  11. band — a ring
  12. field — farmland
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bear — the animal
  16. rash — a series
  17. band — a music group
  18. clip — to cut
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. clip — a video
  22. branch — a division
  23. bark — to shout
  24. rash — on the skin

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