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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: shower · racket · hand · fork · bat · foot · roll · march

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. shower — to wash
  3. march — the month
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. fork — in a road
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. bat — the animal
  14. shower — rain
  15. march — music
  16. foot — a measure
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. hand — help
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. march — the month
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. hand — in cards
  24. roll — a cake

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