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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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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: kid · field · cap · fall · plane · march · ruler · shower

  1. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. cap — of ice
  3. march — music
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. shower — to wash
  7. march — the month
  8. field — a subject
  9. shower — rain
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. fall — to drop
  13. kid — child
  14. cap — a hat
  15. march — the month
  16. fall — the season
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. plane — a tool
  20. fall — to drop
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. cap — a lid

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