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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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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 · last · bat · face · field · game · deal · coach

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. game — a match
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. march — the month
  5. field — a subject
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. game — wild animals
  8. last — to go on
  9. march — the month
  10. last — final
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. face — to confront
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. face — to point toward
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. deal — to handle
  19. march — music
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. face — part of the head
  22. bat — the animal
  23. field — farmland
  24. last — finally

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