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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: date · band · field · vault · fork · march · drill · dip

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. field — farmland
  4. march — the month
  5. band — a ring
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. field — a subject
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. field — for sport
  10. drill — army training
  11. drill — a practice
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. date — the fruit
  15. band — a music group
  16. march — music
  17. vault — a safe
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. drill — the tool
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. dip — to sink
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. march — the month
  24. date — on the calendar

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