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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. march — the month
  3. net — for catching
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. net — in sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. craft — boats
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — in music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. cold — an illness
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. craft — a skill
  21. march — music
  22. scale — size or range
  23. net — after costs
  24. march — the month

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