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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · degree · craft · scale · band · wound · capital · stem

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. degree — an amount
  3. band — a ring
  4. capital — money
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. band — a music group
  8. craft — boats
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. stem — to come from
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bark — to shout
  17. scale — size or range
  18. capital — a city
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. wound — an injury
  21. craft — a skill
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — for weighing
  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