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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. current — happening now
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. current — of water
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — the animal
  9. march — the month
  10. row — a line
  11. cold — an illness
  12. march — the month
  13. row — to paddle
  14. cold — not warm
  15. current — electric
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — a subject
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. field — for sport
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. racket — a loud noise

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