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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 very handy with a ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. march — the month
  5. field — a subject
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. field — for sport
  8. saw — the tool
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. march — the month
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. march — music
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. field — farmland
  18. chest — a box

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