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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 116 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bat · craft · tear · swing · chair · march

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. swing — to play on
  3. march — the month
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — the animal
  7. march — music
  8. craft — a skill
  9. swing — in golf
  10. tear — to rip
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. swing — music
  13. craft — boats
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. 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