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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: bowl · band · march · trunk · chest · swing · tube · field

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. swing — to play on
  3. field — for sport
  4. band — a ring
  5. swing — in golf
  6. field — a subject
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. swing — music
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. band — a music group
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. tube — a container
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. field — farmland
  23. tube — the underground
  24. chest — a box

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