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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. last — finally
  3. craft — a skill
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — a position
  6. hand — in cards
  7. craft — boats
  8. last — to go on
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. hand — help
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pitch — completely
  13. suit — clothes
  14. last — final
  15. suit — in cards
  16. suit — to fit
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. march — music
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. ground — the earth

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