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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 · prune · band · nail · wind · land · field · wave

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. field — farmland
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — a country
  11. march — music
  12. band — a music group
  13. march — the month
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. march — the month
  22. land — ground
  23. band — a ring
  24. wind — moving air

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