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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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. rule — a law
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. shower — rain
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rule — government
  13. fine — all right
  14. clip — to cut
  15. fork — in a road
  16. clip — a video
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. clip — for paper
  23. wound — an injury
  24. shower — to wash

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