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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: march · rock · rest · field · wave · kid · dip · pitch

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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. pitch — a sports field
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. march — music
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. rock — music
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — child
  10. rest — what's left
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. rest — what's left
  13. march — the month
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. dip — to sink
  17. field — for sport
  18. rock — a stone
  19. kid — to tease
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. pitch — completely
  22. rest — a break
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. field — a subject

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