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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: wind · field · stock · swing · race · march · season · cabinet

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. swing — music
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. wind — moving air
  6. race — the arms race
  7. season — in sport
  8. race — humankind
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. race — a contest
  12. swing — in golf
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. stock — goods
  15. field — farmland
  16. stock — shares
  17. march — the month
  18. swing — to play on
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. wind — moving air
  21. season — of the year
  22. field — a subject
  23. march — music
  24. field — for sport

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