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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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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: squash · race · hand · pit · leaves · band · bark · branch

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. hand — help
  5. band — a ring
  6. race — a contest
  7. squash — the sport
  8. bark — to shout
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. race — humankind
  11. branch — a division
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. race — the arms race
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. pit — a hole
  17. hand — in cards
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. pit — in a race
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. squash — to crush
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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