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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. chest — a box
  3. ball — a dance
  4. chest — of your body
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. bat — the animal
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. chest — of your body
  14. ball — a great time
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. fork — in a road
  18. sharp — clever
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. game — wild animals
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. game — a match
  23. branch — a division
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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