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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 · perch · land · club · spell · march · content · mark

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. field — farmland
  3. land — ground
  4. mark — a trace
  5. club — for dancing
  6. club — a group
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. field — for sport
  9. perch — the fish
  10. spell — letters
  11. mark — a grade
  12. content — happy
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — a country
  15. field — a subject
  16. spell — magic
  17. march — the month
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. content — the amount
  20. spell — a short time
  21. club — for golf
  22. march — music
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. content — videos and posts

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