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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 116 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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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: stem · kid · net · shower · march · bay · stick · field

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. march — the month
  3. stem — to come from
  4. kid — to tease
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. kid — child
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. shower — rain
  12. shower — to wash
  13. field — for sport
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. field — farmland
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — for catching
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. field — a subject
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. march — the month
  23. net — in sport
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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