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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 116 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: trunk · season · march · scale · swing · content

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. march — music
  4. season — of the year
  5. scale — size or range
  6. content — the amount
  7. march — the month
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. swing — music
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. swing — in golf
  12. content — happy
  13. scale — in music
  14. march — the month
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. swing — to play on
  17. season — in sport
  18. trunk — of a tree

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