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

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. march — music
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. chest — a box
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. chest — of your body
  9. craft — boats
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. game — wild animals
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. plane — a tool
  16. game — a match
  17. march — the month
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. craft — a skill
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. chest — of your body
  23. march — the month
  24. bat — for baseball

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