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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: plane · field · march · bore · cold · pop · board · last

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. march — the month
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. last — final
  5. bore — to tire
  6. plane — a tool
  7. board — to get on
  8. bore — to drill
  9. last — finally
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. pop — music
  13. last — to go on
  14. march — the month
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. field — a subject
  17. pop — to visit
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. cold — not warm
  21. march — music
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. cold — an illness
  24. board — a committee

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