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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — a coil
  5. field — a subject
  6. fall — the season
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — a contest
  10. field — for sport
  11. shower — rain
  12. fall — to drop
  13. chair — a leader
  14. field — farmland
  15. ball — a great time
  16. ball — a dance
  17. shower — to wash
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. spring — the season
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. fall — to drop
  24. chair — a professorship

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