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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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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: wind · field · march · cell · drill · bowl · season · perch

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. field — a subject
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. season — of the year
  6. march — the month
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. cell — in biology
  9. field — for sport
  10. march — music
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cell — a phone
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. field — farmland
  15. drill — the tool
  16. perch — the fish
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. march — the month
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — army training

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