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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: wound · wake · kick · march · shower · bowl · field · cap

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a lid
  6. wake — a trail
  7. field — for sport
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — a subject
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. shower — to wash
  13. march — the month
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. kick — in football
  18. cap — a hat
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. march — music
  21. shower — rain
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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