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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bark · tube · cold · march · mark · spring · scale · racket

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. mark — a grade
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. scale — size or range
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. tube — the underground
  8. spring — of water
  9. march — the month
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. mark — a trace
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. march — music
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. tube — a container
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bark — to shout
  20. march — the month
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. scale — in music
  23. spring — the season
  24. cold — not warm

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