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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: pop · cold · pit · cabinet · stock · field · drill · march

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. stock — goods
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. stock — shares
  6. pit — a hole
  7. march — the month
  8. drill — the tool
  9. drill — army training
  10. march — the month
  11. cold — an illness
  12. drill — a practice
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — music
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. field — a subject
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. pop — soda
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pit — in a race
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. stock — a soup base

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