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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: march · tube · mark · racket · cold · field · ruler · calf

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. march — music
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. cold — an illness
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. march — the month
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — not warm
  14. tube — the underground
  15. field — farmland
  16. mark — a trace
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mark — a grade
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. field — for sport
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. field — a subject

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