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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. fork — in a road
  5. field — farmland
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. present — there
  8. bat — the animal
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. present — the time now
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. field — for sport
  15. chip — to eat
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. field — a subject
  18. present — a gift
  19. bass — low music
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. chip — for betting
  23. march — the month
  24. bass — the fish

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