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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: ground · season · hand · club · bat · march · calf · arm

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. march — the month
  3. hand — help
  4. season — of the year
  5. club — for golf
  6. bat — the animal
  7. march — music
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. hand — in cards
  10. ground — crushed
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. march — the month
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. ground — the earth
  21. club — a group
  22. club — for dancing
  23. season — in sport
  24. bat — in an idiom

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