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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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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: march · ground · wound · bear · bass · trunk

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. wound — an injury
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bass — low music
  6. march — music
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — the animal
  9. ground — the earth
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. bass — the fish
  12. march — the month
  13. ground — a position
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. march — the month

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