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

Word bank: wave · bat · mark · kick · bowl · file · kid · march

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. march — the month
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. march — music
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. march — the month
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. kid — to tease
  12. mark — a grade
  13. mark — a trace
  14. file — a document
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. file — a tool
  17. kick — in football
  18. file — a line of people
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. bat — the animal

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