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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: march · degree · firm · bank · last · saw · chest · field

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. degree — an amount
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. last — finally
  6. degree — temperature
  7. field — a subject
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bank — for money
  10. last — final
  11. last — to go on
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. field — farmland
  14. firm — a company
  15. march — the month
  16. chest — a box
  17. firm — decided
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bank — for money
  20. degree — from a university
  21. firm — steady
  22. field — for sport
  23. chest — of your body
  24. saw — 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