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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 120 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: field · fan · fall · fork · pitch · band · racket · march

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. field — farmland
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. field — for sport
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. pitch — completely
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fork — in a road
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. field — a subject
  20. band — a ring
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fork — to eat with

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