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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. face — to confront
  3. net — in sport
  4. bark — to shout
  5. mate — a partner
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. face — part of the head
  9. pitch — completely
  10. face — to point toward
  11. march — the month
  12. spring — the season
  13. mate — to breed
  14. net — after costs
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. march — the month
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. spring — of water
  19. net — for catching
  20. board — to get on
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. board — a committee
  23. mate — a friend
  24. board — a flat piece

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