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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 116 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. field — farmland
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bark — to shout
  5. march — the month
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. perch — the fish
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. march — music
  11. field — a subject
  12. bass — low music
  13. stand — to bear
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bass — the fish
  16. pit — in a race
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. shower — rain
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pit — a hole
  24. field — for sport

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