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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 120 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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. march — music
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a ring
  7. march — the month
  8. cap — a hat
  9. track — to keep track
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stand — to bear
  12. track — a path
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. cap — a lid
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. fork — in a road
  20. march — the month
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cap — of ice
  24. track — a song

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