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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: date · field · bark · jam · march · pass · cold · prune

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. prune — to trim
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. field — for sport
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. pass — a permit
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. date — the fruit
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. field — a subject
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. cold — not warm
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. field — farmland
  24. date — on the calendar

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