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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: swing · bank · pop · cell · bark · stock · wound · hand

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. swing — music
  3. pop — music
  4. cell — in biology
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. bank — for money
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. bank — for money
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bark — to shout
  13. hand — in cards
  14. stock — goods
  15. swing — in golf
  16. bank — of a river
  17. stock — shares
  18. pop — to visit
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pop — soda
  21. hand — help
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bark — of a tree

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