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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 116 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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. hand — in cards
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. kid — to tease
  8. track — a song
  9. present — there
  10. land — to come down
  11. hand — help
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. march — the month
  14. land — ground
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. present — the time now
  17. lean — thin
  18. present — a gift
  19. kid — child
  20. track — to keep track
  21. land — a country
  22. lean — to bend
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. track — a path

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