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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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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: mark · kid · racket · march · fan · drill · pound · field

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. pound — a weight
  3. kid — to tease
  4. drill — a practice
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. march — the month
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. march — music
  13. field — for sport
  14. drill — army training
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. march — the month
  17. mark — a grade
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. kid — child
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. drill — the tool
  24. mark — a trace

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