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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: bark · game · field · branch · cue · stock · lie · march

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. stock — shares
  3. lie — to recline
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. field — for sport
  6. game — a match
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. field — a subject
  11. march — the month
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cue — for pool
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. stock — goods
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. cue — a signal
  19. march — the month
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cue — a hint
  23. field — farmland
  24. bark — to shout

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