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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. march — the month
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. club — for golf
  6. chest — a box
  7. club — for dancing
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. chest — of your body
  10. march — music
  11. lie — to recline
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. field — for sport
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. bark — to shout
  18. field — farmland
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. march — the month
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. field — a subject
  24. chest — of your body

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