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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.

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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: swing · march · net · cap · bark · trunk · wax · land

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. march — music
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. land — ground
  5. swing — in golf
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. net — after costs
  8. march — the month
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cap — a hat
  11. land — to come down
  12. net — in sport
  13. cap — of ice
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. bark — to shout
  16. wax — to grow
  17. land — a country
  18. swing — to play on
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. net — for catching
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. swing — music
  23. march — the month
  24. bark — 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