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

Word bank: march · swing · chest · tear · pass · field

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. march — the month
  4. chest — of your body
  5. swing — in golf
  6. field — for sport
  7. chest — a box
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chest — of your body
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. swing — to play on
  13. swing — music
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — farmland
  16. march — the month
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. march — music

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