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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: hand · clip · bat · pitcher · spell · arm · stock · fork

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. stock — shares
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. spell — letters
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. clip — for paper
  11. fork — in a road
  12. spell — magic
  13. hand — help
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. clip — a video
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. clip — to cut
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. stock — goods

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