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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 · ground · bulb · field · file · tear · bass · net

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. ground — a position
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. field — a subject
  7. bulb — for light
  8. ground — crushed
  9. field — farmland
  10. net — in sport
  11. ground — the earth
  12. net — after costs
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. net — for catching
  16. bass — low music
  17. bass — the fish
  18. tear — from crying
  19. file — a document
  20. march — the month
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. file — a tool
  24. field — for sport

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