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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: bear · fine · band · wound · patient · mark · cold · bark

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. fine — all right
  3. bear — the animal
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a music group
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. mark — a trace
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. cold — not warm
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. band — a ring
  22. fine — high quality
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mark — a grade

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