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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 120 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: march · tube · wave · bat · key · shower · chair · present

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. march — the month
  4. bat — the animal
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. key — for a lock
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. shower — rain
  12. tube — the underground
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — there
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. march — music
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. march — the month
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. chair — a leader
  21. shower — to wash
  22. key — in music
  23. key — the most important part
  24. tube — a container

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