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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: bark · march · last · content · hand · mouse · bat · track

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. march — the month
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. last — finally
  9. track — a song
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. track — a path
  12. content — happy
  13. track — to keep track
  14. bark — to shout
  15. last — final
  16. march — the month
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. content — the amount
  19. march — music
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. hand — help
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. hand — in cards
  24. last — to go 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