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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. degree — from a university
  4. march — the month
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. degree — temperature
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. march — the month
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. bark — to shout
  18. saw — the tool
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — size or range
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. hand — help
  23. scale — in music
  24. hand — in cards

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