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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: stock · bat · hand · cap · nail · perch · chest · march

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cap — of ice
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. cap — a hat
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bat — the animal
  10. march — the month
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. stock — goods
  14. march — music
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. hand — help
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. march — the month
  22. chest — of your body
  23. perch — the fish
  24. hand — in cards

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