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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: bowl · spring · band · pitch · saw · cold · march · key

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. march — the month
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — completely
  5. march — the month
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. spring — of water
  10. march — music
  11. band — a ring
  12. cold — an illness
  13. saw — the tool
  14. key — in music
  15. spring — the season
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. saw — the tool
  18. cold — not warm
  19. key — the most important part
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. spring — a coil
  22. key — for a lock
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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