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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. march — the month
  5. swing — to play on
  6. bass — low music
  7. land — to come down
  8. bass — the fish
  9. march — the month
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. land — a country
  13. swing — in golf
  14. bark — to shout
  15. saw — the tool
  16. shower — rain
  17. saw — the tool
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. swing — music
  22. land — ground
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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