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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: march · bat · field · present · bark · pitcher · ground · pop

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. 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. ground — a position
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. present — there
  4. march — the month
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pop — music
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pop — soda
  11. march — music
  12. ground — the earth
  13. present — the time now
  14. ground — crushed
  15. field — a subject
  16. bat — the animal
  17. field — farmland
  18. bark — to shout
  19. field — for sport
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. present — a gift
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. 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