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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. swing — music
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. fork — in a road
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bass — the fish
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. march — the month
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — to play on
  17. march — music
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. march — the month
  20. capital — a city
  21. bass — low music
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. capital — money

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