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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: cue · hand · bat · chair · wave · capital · march · fork

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. capital — a city
  4. fork — in a road
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. cue — a hint
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cue — a signal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. capital — money
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. march — the month
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cue — for pool
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. chair — a leader
  20. march — the month
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. march — music

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