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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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Word bank
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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: can · file · fine · march · pitcher · bat

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. fine — all right
  3. fine — high quality
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. file — a tool
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. march — the month
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. can — a tin
  13. march — the month
  14. file — a line of people
  15. can — a tin
  16. file — a document
  17. march — music
  18. pitcher — in baseball

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