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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · march · kid · field · cabinet · pop · date · fall

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. kid — to tease
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pop — music
  9. pop — soda
  10. field — farmland
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — to drop
  13. date — the fruit
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. march — the month
  16. kid — child
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. land — to come down
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. land — a country
  23. land — ground
  24. cabinet — ministers

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