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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 124 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 · bark · file · roll · mate · last · cabinet · march

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. roll — a list
  3. last — final
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. mate — a friend
  8. march — the month
  9. file — a document
  10. mate — to breed
  11. last — finally
  12. march — music
  13. last — to go on
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. mate — a partner
  16. march — the month
  17. file — a tool
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. file — a line of people

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