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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. last — to go on
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. branch — a division
  6. swing — in golf
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. track — to keep track
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. last — final
  12. fine — all right
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. track — a path
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — for sport
  18. fine — high quality
  19. bark — to shout
  20. last — finally
  21. swing — to play on
  22. field — farmland
  23. swing — music
  24. track — a song

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