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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 120 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bass — the fish
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. mark — a trace
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. kid — child
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. march — music
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. mark — a grade
  20. bass — low music
  21. kid — to tease
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. prune — to trim
  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