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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bark · scale · stem · march · pop · lash · content · cold

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. content — happy
  5. scale — size or range
  6. pop — to visit
  7. march — the month
  8. pop — music
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — to shout
  11. content — the amount
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. pop — soda
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. cold — not warm
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. scale — in music
  22. march — the month
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. cold — an illness

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