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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · track · bat · march · chest · ball · bark · degree

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. track — to keep track
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. march — music
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. chest — a box
  9. ball — a great time
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. march — the month
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — an amount
  16. fork — in a road
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. track — a song
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. bark — to shout
  21. track — a path
  22. ball — a dance
  23. bat — in an idiom
  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