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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — the month
  3. file — a line of people
  4. pop — soda
  5. pop — to visit
  6. bark — to shout
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. degree — temperature
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. fork — in a road
  11. file — a document
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. rule — a law
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. rule — government
  19. file — a tool
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. pop — music
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. march — music
  24. trunk — of a car

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