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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: bore · court · rush · field · trunk · wound · march · dip

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. bore — to drill
  3. field — a subject
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. march — the month
  6. field — farmland
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. dip — to sink
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. march — the month
  14. court — for sport
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. rush — hurry
  17. bore — to tire
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — of law
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. wound — an injury
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. field — for sport

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