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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
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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: cold · band · bark · mine · suit · spell · lie · scale

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. spell — letters
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. suit — clothes
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. scale — size or range
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. suit — in cards
  9. lie — to recline
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a ring
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. suit — to fit
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. spell — magic
  18. scale — in music
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. band — a music group
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. spell — a short time

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