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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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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: bark · pass · bat · land · band · fall · object · branch

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bat — the animal
  3. object — to protest
  4. band — a music group
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. pass — a permit
  7. bark — to shout
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. fall — the season
  11. land — a country
  12. band — a ring
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. land — to come down
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. object — a thing
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. land — ground
  20. object — an aim
  21. fall — to drop
  22. branch — a division
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. pass — to spend time

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