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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 116 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: trunk · march · ground · fan · last · fork · racket · hand

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. last — final
  5. ground — a position
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. fork — in a road
  8. hand — in cards
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. ground — crushed
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. ground — the earth
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. last — finally
  20. march — the month
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. fan — a supporter

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