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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: field · court · drill · shower · foot · wave · march · band

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. field — farmland
  3. drill — a practice
  4. march — the month
  5. shower — to wash
  6. court — of law
  7. shower — rain
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. foot — a measure
  10. court — for sport
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. field — for sport
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. march — the month
  17. field — a subject
  18. drill — army training
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. drill — the tool
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a music group
  23. march — music
  24. foot — the bottom

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