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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: shower · bark · ball · stick · plane · field · scale · wake

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. ball — a dance
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. field — farmland
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. scale — size or range
  9. ball — a great time
  10. shower — to wash
  11. field — for sport
  12. plane — a tool
  13. field — a subject
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. bark — to shout
  18. scale — in music
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. wake — a trail
  21. shower — rain
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. wake — before a funeral

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