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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. march — the month
  3. track — a path
  4. scale — in music
  5. bat — the animal
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — ground
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. land — a country
  10. last — finally
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. wind — moving air
  13. march — the month
  14. wind — moving air
  15. scale — size or range
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. march — music
  19. last — to go on
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. last — final
  22. track — a song
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. track — to keep track

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