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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: kid · mark · chest · fork · bowl · chip · march · ground

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. chip — to eat
  3. chip — for betting
  4. kid — child
  5. ground — a position
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. march — the month
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. mark — a grade
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. march — the month
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. chest — a box
  19. kid — to tease
  20. march — music
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. fork — in a road
  24. mark — a trace

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