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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: wound · bark · bore · band · leaves · rest · cap · mine

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. rest — what's left
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. band — a ring
  5. bore — to drill
  6. cap — of ice
  7. band — a music group
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. mine — for digging
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. bore — to tire
  12. cap — a lid
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. rest — a break
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. rest — what's left
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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