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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: craft · kid · land · track · pitch · march · drill · capital

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. craft — a skill
  4. march — the month
  5. land — a country
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. land — to come down
  8. pitch — completely
  9. drill — a practice
  10. kid — child
  11. land — ground
  12. capital — money
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. track — to keep track
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. track — a song
  18. track — a path
  19. capital — a city
  20. drill — army training
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. kid — to tease
  23. craft — boats
  24. drill — the tool

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