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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
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: rule · band · lash · cell · march · hand · stock · bark

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. rule — government
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. band — a ring
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. march — the month
  11. bark — to shout
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. hand — in cards
  14. stock — shares
  15. rule — a law
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. march — music
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a music group
  21. stock — goods
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. march — the month
  24. cell — in biology

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