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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: bark · kid · stick · band · lash · roll · spell · arm

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. band — a music group
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. roll — a cake
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. roll — a list
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. spell — magic
  12. band — a ring
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. spell — a short time
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. kid — child
  22. bark — to shout
  23. spell — letters
  24. band — a rubber band

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