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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. cue — a hint
  3. field — farmland
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. march — the month
  6. cell — a phone
  7. board — a committee
  8. march — the month
  9. cue — for pool
  10. march — music
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. cue — a signal
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bass — the fish
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. field — for sport
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. board — to get on
  22. field — a subject
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bear — the animal

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