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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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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. race — a contest
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. march — the month
  6. bear — the animal
  7. field — a subject
  8. land — ground
  9. march — the month
  10. kid — to tease
  11. field — for sport
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. land — to come down
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. land — a country
  17. race — humankind
  18. kid — child
  19. bear — the animal
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. field — farmland
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. pitch — completely

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