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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stem · bark · field · degree · march · race

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. field — a subject
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. field — for sport
  5. bark — to shout
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. race — a contest
  9. field — farmland
  10. race — humankind
  11. race — the arms race
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. stem — to come from
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. march — the month
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — from a university

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