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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: foot · coach · pop · branch · march · field · saw · kid

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. foot — a measure
  3. field — farmland
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. field — a subject
  7. saw — the tool
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. kid — child
  11. pop — to visit
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. pop — soda
  14. field — for sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. saw — the tool
  22. pop — music
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a tree

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