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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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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: cell · dip · band · season · snap · arm · wind · bark

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. season — in sport
  4. wind — moving air
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. cell — a phone
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. band — a music group
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. dip — to sink
  13. bark — to shout
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a ring
  21. season — of the year
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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