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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: cue · last · hand · chair · cap · field · perch · march

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cap — a lid
  4. hand — in cards
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. march — the month
  7. field — a subject
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. chair — a leader
  10. cue — a signal
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cue — a hint
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. last — final
  16. hand — help
  17. field — for sport
  18. march — the month
  19. last — to go on
  20. perch — the fish
  21. last — finally
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cap — a hat
  24. field — farmland

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