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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 116 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: degree · prune · march · stem · craft · bass · bark · game

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bass — the fish
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. game — a match
  5. degree — an amount
  6. craft — boats
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. stem — to come from
  11. degree — from a university
  12. bass — low music
  13. craft — a skill
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. prune — to trim
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. game — wild animals
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. bark — to shout
  21. march — the month
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. prune — to trim
  24. march — music

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