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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wake — a trail
  5. pitch — completely
  6. bat — the animal
  7. swing — to play on
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. swing — music
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. march — music
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. hand — help
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. march — the month
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. swing — in golf
  24. chair — a leader

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