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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. march — the month
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. march — music
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. march — the month
  9. wake — a trail
  10. field — for sport
  11. roll — a list
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. field — farmland
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. roll — a cake
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. bark — to shout

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