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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. swing — in golf
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. fall — the season
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. swing — music
  9. field — for sport
  10. swing — to play on
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. march — music
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. drill — a practice
  16. chest — of your body
  17. drill — the tool
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — completely
  20. drill — army training
  21. march — the month
  22. chest — a box
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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