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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: row · bat · net · date · march · fork · bear · coach

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. net — for catching
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. row — to paddle
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — the animal
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. net — after costs
  15. row — a line
  16. date — the fruit
  17. net — in sport
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. march — the month
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fork — in a road

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