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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: fork · swing · hand · march · pitcher · cap · club · bat

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. swing — to play on
  3. cap — a lid
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — for dancing
  6. hand — in cards
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cap — a hat
  10. hand — help
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cap — of ice
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. fork — in a road
  16. march — music
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. club — a group
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. swing — music
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. fork — to eat with

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