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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: chair · present · game · field · spring · wake · march · bulb

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. march — the month
  3. game — a match
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bulb — for light
  7. spring — a coil
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. present — a gift
  10. bulb — for light
  11. march — the month
  12. chair — a leader
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. march — music
  15. spring — of water
  16. present — there
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. spring — the season
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. wake — a trail
  24. present — the time now

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