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

Word bank: march · cue · nail · pit · saw · chest

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. cue — a signal
  3. march — the month
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. cue — a hint
  6. chest — of your body
  7. march — the month
  8. chest — a box
  9. march — music
  10. chest — of your body
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. pit — in a race
  13. cue — for pool
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. saw — the tool
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. pit — a hole
  18. saw — the tool

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