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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: stand · net · chest · march · plane · tear · sharp · bat

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. tear — from crying
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. chest — of your body
  7. net — for catching
  8. march — the month
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. chest — a box
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. tear — to rip
  15. plane — a tool
  16. net — in sport
  17. tear — from crying
  18. sharp — clever
  19. stand — to bear
  20. net — after costs
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. chest — of your body
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. bat — the animal

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