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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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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: bank · straw · squash · race · fall · march · field · perch

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. fall — the season
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bank — for money
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the sport
  8. march — the month
  9. perch — the fish
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — humankind
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bank — for money
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. race — a contest
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. fall — to drop
  22. march — the month
  23. bank — of a river
  24. squash — the vegetable

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