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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 116 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: band · pitch · row · saw · march · pop

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  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. band — a ring
  2. pop — to visit
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. pop — music
  5. saw — the tool
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. march — the month
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. band — a music group
  11. row — a line
  12. march — music
  13. pop — soda
  14. saw — the tool
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. pitch — completely
  17. row — to paddle
  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