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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: cap · racket · field · kid · march · bowl

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. march — music
  3. field — a subject
  4. cap — a hat
  5. field — for sport
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. march — the month
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. kid — child
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. field — farmland
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. cap — a lid
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. kid — to tease
  16. cap — of ice
  17. march — the month
  18. bowl — to roll

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