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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: racket · bark · patient · march · scale · cell · wound · last

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. scale — size or range
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. wound — an injury
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. last — final
  9. last — to go on
  10. scale — in music
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. wound — an injury
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. last — finally
  20. cell — in biology
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. march — the month
  23. bark — to shout
  24. scale — for weighing

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