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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 · hand · content · ruler · kick · game · march · bat

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. game — wild animals
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. march — music
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. march — the month
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. bat — the animal
  10. fork — in a road
  11. march — the month
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. game — a match
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — in football
  16. hand — in cards
  17. content — happy
  18. content — the amount
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. hand — help
  24. content — videos and posts

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