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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. march — music
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bass — low music
  6. band — a ring
  7. march — the month
  8. capital — money
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. band — a music group
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bark — to shout
  21. chest — a box
  22. march — the month
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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