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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. land — a country
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. land — ground
  8. file — a tool
  9. spring — of water
  10. march — the month
  11. spring — the season
  12. land — to come down
  13. toast — bread
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bank — for money
  16. bank — for money
  17. march — the month
  18. file — a line of people
  19. spring — a coil
  20. bark — to shout
  21. file — a document
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. bank — of a river

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