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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 120 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. spring — the season
  3. band — a ring
  4. land — ground
  5. swing — music
  6. band — a music group
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. spring — a coil
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. land — a country
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. spring — of water
  15. bark — to shout
  16. swing — in golf
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. ball — a dance
  20. board — a committee
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. land — to come down
  23. swing — to play on
  24. board — to get on

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