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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: bat · band · fine · wound · fork · swing · march · stand

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. stand — to bear
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. fine — high quality
  5. march — music
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fine — all right
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. swing — music
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. band — a ring
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bat — the animal
  17. band — a music group
  18. swing — to play on
  19. swing — in golf
  20. march — the month
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. march — the month
  24. fork — a garden tool

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