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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 · pop · game · perch · stand · bat · mine · kid

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. pop — music
  3. bat — the animal
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. kid — child
  7. game — a match
  8. game — wild animals
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. fork — in a road
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. perch — the fish
  14. pop — soda
  15. stand — to bear
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. pop — to visit
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — to tease

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