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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 120 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 · bear · ball · leaves · file · mate · field · march

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. march — the month
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. bear — the animal
  7. march — music
  8. file — a line of people
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. mate — to breed
  11. march — the month
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. bear — the animal
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. ball — a dance
  18. mate — a friend
  19. file — a tool
  20. ball — a great time
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. file — a document
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. leaves — lets stay

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