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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. march — the month
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. roll — a list
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. date — the fruit
  13. march — the month
  14. field — for sport
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. degree — temperature
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. roll — a cake
  19. degree — from a university
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. degree — an amount
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. date — on the calendar

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