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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 · fork · snap · drill · hand · field · bank · pitch

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. bank — for money
  4. field — a subject
  5. hand — help
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. field — for sport
  10. bank — for money
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. march — the month
  14. drill — army training
  15. march — the month
  16. fork — in a road
  17. march — music
  18. drill — the tool
  19. field — farmland
  20. hand — in cards
  21. pitch — completely
  22. bank — of a river
  23. drill — a practice
  24. snap — to click

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