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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: present · pit · bat · firm · scale · chest · season · march

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. pit — a hole
  3. march — music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. firm — decided
  7. scale — size or range
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — the animal
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. march — the month
  13. firm — steady
  14. scale — in music
  15. march — the month
  16. present — the time now
  17. chest — of your body
  18. present — there
  19. firm — a company
  20. pit — in a race
  21. season — in sport
  22. season — of the year
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. bat — for baseball

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