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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: arm · field · march · swing · wax · scale · land · season

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. swing — music
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. march — music
  6. field — for sport
  7. swing — in golf
  8. season — of the year
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. scale — size or range
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. field — farmland
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. land — a country
  15. march — the month
  16. wax — to grow
  17. land — ground
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. scale — in music
  20. land — to come down
  21. season — in sport
  22. field — a subject
  23. swing — to play on
  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