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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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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: stick · march · nail · cue · row · kid · field · pitcher

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. field — farmland
  2. kid — child
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. field — a subject
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. march — music
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. cue — a signal
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. row — a line
  16. cue — a hint
  17. kid — to tease
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. march — the month
  20. field — for sport
  21. row — to paddle
  22. cue — for pool
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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