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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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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: perch · bound · coach · march · capital · bat · fork · pitch

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. fork — in a road
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. bound — tied together
  9. bound — certain
  10. capital — a city
  11. perch — the fish
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. capital — money
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. march — the month
  24. capital — a big letter

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