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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: march · pitcher · hand · band · toast · content · bark · rule

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  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 — of a tree
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. rule — government
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. march — the month
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. toast — bread
  9. band — a music group
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. march — the month
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. rule — a law
  16. bark — to shout
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. hand — in cards
  19. content — happy
  20. march — music
  21. content — the amount
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  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