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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: wound · root · object · field · march · board · kid · pitcher

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. field — farmland
  3. board — a committee
  4. wound — an injury
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — to tease
  8. march — music
  9. object — a thing
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. field — for sport
  14. root — of a word
  15. root — the cause
  16. march — the month
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. object — an aim
  19. field — a subject
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. root — of a plant
  23. board — to get on
  24. march — the month

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