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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: coach · wax · kid · pitcher · mark · field · land · march

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. land — ground
  3. field — for sport
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. mark — a trace
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. field — a subject
  10. land — to come down
  11. mark — a grade
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — child
  16. march — music
  17. march — the month
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. land — a country
  21. field — farmland
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. march — the month
  24. coach — a trainer

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