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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: trunk · bay · bark · march · content · stand · file · ground

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. ground — crushed
  6. content — the amount
  7. stand — to bear
  8. bark — to shout
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. content — happy
  12. file — a document
  13. ground — a position
  14. file — a tool
  15. ground — the earth
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. bark — 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