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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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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: racket · fork · march · fall · mouse · face · chest · drill

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. march — the month
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. chest — of your body
  5. drill — the tool
  6. chest — a box
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. fall — to drop
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. face — part of the head
  14. march — the month
  15. drill — army training
  16. fall — to drop
  17. face — to confront
  18. face — to point toward
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. fall — the season
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. drill — a practice
  23. fork — in a road
  24. racket — a loud noise

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