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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.

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: game · stem · bark · arm · mine · band · degree · bulb

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — for light
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. stem — to come from
  11. band — a music group
  12. bark — to shout
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. band — a ring
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. degree — an amount
  20. game — a match
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

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