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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. press — a publisher
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. field — for sport
  10. press — to push
  11. drill — the tool
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. drill — army training
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — a subject
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. march — the month
  19. drill — a practice
  20. march — music
  21. press — newspapers
  22. march — the month
  23. board — to get on
  24. bark — to shout

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