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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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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wound — an injury
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. band — a music group
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. field — farmland
  7. bank — of a river
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bank — for money
  11. field — a subject
  12. bank — for money
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. board — a committee
  15. wound — an injury
  16. board — to get on
  17. kick — in football
  18. mine — for digging
  19. band — a ring
  20. march — music
  21. field — for sport
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. march — the month
  24. kick — with a leg

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