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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wound · land · field · pound · rash · toast · bat · march

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. march — music
  3. field — farmland
  4. toast — bread
  5. land — to come down
  6. field — a subject
  7. rash — a series
  8. march — the month
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. land — ground
  14. field — for sport
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pound — a weight
  19. march — the month
  20. rash — hasty
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. toast — the most admired

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