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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 · bat · wound · leaves · rock · trunk · rash · squash

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. rock — music
  3. wound — an injury
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. squash — to crush
  6. squash — the sport
  7. march — the month
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. rash — a series
  12. rock — a stone
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. march — music
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. march — the month
  23. wound — an injury
  24. rash — hasty

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