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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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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: fork · spring · mate · march · bat · mouse · jam · race

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. race — humankind
  4. march — the month
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. bat — the animal
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — to breed
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. spring — of water
  11. mate — a partner
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — the season
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. fork — in a road
  17. race — the arms race
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. race — a contest
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. bat — for 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