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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. roll — a cake
  3. field — farmland
  4. present — there
  5. bank — for money
  6. present — a gift
  7. field — for sport
  8. roll — a list
  9. bank — of a river
  10. march — the month
  11. drill — the tool
  12. present — the time now
  13. drill — a practice
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. march — music
  19. field — a subject
  20. march — the month
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. drill — army training
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bank — for money

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