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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: bark · cue · mine · bat · field · bound · drill · march

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bound — certain
  3. drill — a practice
  4. cue — a signal
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. field — farmland
  7. march — music
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. field — for sport
  10. drill — army training
  11. march — the month
  12. drill — the tool
  13. cue — a hint
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bound — obliged
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — for digging
  22. cue — for pool
  23. march — the month
  24. field — a subject

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