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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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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: wind · net · kick · bark · stand · stem · band · patient

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. kick — in football
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. band — a music group
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. stand — to bear
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — in sport
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. net — for catching
  14. band — a ring
  15. bark — to shout
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wind — moving air
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. stem — to come from
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. stand — on your feet

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