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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: trunk · wake · field · lean · straw · march · scale · band

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. field — farmland
  3. lean — thin
  4. field — a subject
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. march — the month
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. lean — to bend
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. march — the month
  15. band — a ring
  16. scale — size or range
  17. wake — a trail
  18. march — music
  19. band — a music group
  20. field — for sport
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. scale — in 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