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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. net — in sport
  3. last — final
  4. hand — help
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. hand — in cards
  7. mark — a trace
  8. march — the month
  9. last — to go on
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. present — the time now
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. net — for catching
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. march — music
  17. mark — a grade
  18. present — a gift
  19. net — after costs
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. march — the month
  23. present — there
  24. hand — part of the body

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