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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. march — the month
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. bat — the animal
  6. ball — a dance
  7. chest — a box
  8. mate — a partner
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mate — a friend
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. ball — a great time
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. fork — in a road
  17. pass — a permit
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. mate — to breed
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. mine — for digging

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