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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: pit · last · chest · march · lash · bowl · stem · hand

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. last — to go on
  3. pit — a hole
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. chest — of your body
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. pit — in a race
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — help
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. stem — to come from
  17. chest — a box
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. march — the month
  24. stem — a stem cell

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