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

Word bank: racket · march · band · cold · field · ruler

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. band — a ring
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. march — music
  6. field — farmland
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — a subject
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. cold — not warm
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. cold — an illness
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. band — a music group
  18. march — the month

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