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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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Word bank
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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: land · cap · plane · march · chest · pitcher

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. land — to come down
  3. plane — a tool
  4. march — the month
  5. chest — a box
  6. cap — a hat
  7. march — the month
  8. land — a country
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. land — ground
  12. cap — of ice
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. cap — a lid
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. plane — in geometry

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