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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: rest · ball · file · capital · face · bark · march · trunk

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. march — the month
  3. face — part of the head
  4. march — the month
  5. rest — what's left
  6. capital — money
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ball — a dance
  9. file — a tool
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. rest — what's left
  12. capital — a city
  13. file — a document
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. march — music
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. face — to confront
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rest — a break
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. trunk — of a tree

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