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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: band · bark · branch · field · march · foot · cell · scale

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. field — for sport
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. march — music
  5. scale — in music
  6. bark — to shout
  7. march — the month
  8. band — a music group
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cell — a phone
  12. march — the month
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. foot — a measure
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. field — farmland
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. scale — size or range
  20. field — a subject
  21. branch — a division
  22. band — a ring
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. branch — 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