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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.

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: hand · perch · mug · mine · march · deal · swing · bat

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. march — music
  4. swing — to play on
  5. perch — the fish
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. mug — a face
  8. mine — for digging
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mug — a cup
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. deal — to handle
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. swing — music
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. march — the month
  20. hand — help
  21. mug — to rob
  22. swing — in golf
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. perch — for a bird

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