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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 116 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: field · prune · band · bark · wound · chair · deal · bulb

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. bulb — for light
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. wound — an injury
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. band — a ring
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. band — a music group
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. bark — to shout
  13. prune — to trim
  14. field — for sport
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. wound — an injury
  18. chair — a leader
  19. field — farmland
  20. deal — to handle
  21. field — a subject
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. prune — to trim

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