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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: bat · cue · hand · march · rock · tube · capital · craft

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. tube — the underground
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — help
  6. march — the month
  7. bat — the animal
  8. march — music
  9. craft — boats
  10. march — the month
  11. cue — for pool
  12. craft — a skill
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. capital — money
  17. rock — music
  18. rock — a stone
  19. cue — a hint
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. capital — a city
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. cue — a signal

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