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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · saw · bat · lash · chair · kid · stock · season

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. saw — the tool
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — the animal
  6. march — music
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. kid — to tease
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. march — the month
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — a leader
  13. season — of the year
  14. saw — the tool
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. season — in sport
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. stock — shares
  19. march — the month
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. stock — goods
  24. chair — to sit on

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