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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 ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. fork — in a road
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. march — the month
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. drill — army training
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. bat — the animal
  12. hand — help
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. field — for sport
  15. drill — a practice
  16. field — farmland
  17. drill — the tool
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. march — music
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. field — a subject
  24. march — the month

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