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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: kick · wound · march · bark · band · spell · wax · fan

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. wound — an injury
  10. march — the month
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. spell — a short time
  13. kick — in football
  14. march — music
  15. spell — magic
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. march — the month
  20. band — a music group
  21. wax — to grow
  22. spell — letters
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. band — a ring

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