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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: march · stem · degree · land · sharp · trunk · present · bark

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. land — a country
  4. sharp — clever
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. march — music
  7. degree — from a university
  8. march — the month
  9. land — to come down
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. stem — to come from
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — a gift
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — temperature
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. present — there
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. march — the month
  23. bark — to shout
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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