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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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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: wake · field · pound · fan · roll · stick · march · kid

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. field — farmland
  3. roll — a cake
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. march — the month
  6. kid — child
  7. pound — a weight
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. march — music
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. field — for sport
  16. wake — a trail
  17. march — the month
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. field — a subject
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. roll — a list

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