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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: pop · field · chest · pass · march · nail · wound · deal

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. march — the month
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. wound — an injury
  5. march — music
  6. deal — to handle
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. field — for sport
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pass — a permit
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. field — farmland
  15. pop — soda
  16. march — the month
  17. field — a subject
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. pop — to visit
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pop — music
  24. chest — a box

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