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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: nail · kid · pitch · march · mark · land · dip · stem

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. mark — a grade
  3. march — the month
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. land — ground
  6. land — a country
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. land — to come down
  10. march — the month
  11. kid — child
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. kid — to tease
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. mark — a trace
  18. stem — to come from
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. dip — to sink
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sports field

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