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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: band · land · mine · temple · staff · bark · swing · net

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  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. bark — a dog's sound
  2. net — after costs
  3. swing — music
  4. land — ground
  5. staff — employees
  6. bark — to shout
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. band — a music group
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. swing — to play on
  12. land — to come down
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. swing — in golf
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — for catching
  17. band — a ring
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. staff — employees
  20. staff — a stick
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. land — a country
  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