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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.

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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: patient · spring · wake · race · band · bark · arm · cell

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. race — humankind
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. spring — of water
  7. cell — in biology
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — a trail
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. cell — a phone
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. spring — the season
  19. race — the arms race
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. race — a contest
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bark — to shout
  24. band — a music group

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