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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: field · cold · bat · pitch · firm · arm · march · board

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. firm — steady
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. board — to get on
  10. board — a committee
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. march — the month
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. bat — the animal
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. firm — a company
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. field — farmland
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. firm — decided
  23. pitch — completely
  24. march — music

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