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

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. kick — in football
  3. last — finally
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. march — music
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. last — final
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. last — to go on
  11. wound — an injury
  12. net — in sport
  13. march — the month
  14. perch — the fish
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. net — after costs
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. march — the month
  20. content — happy
  21. content — the amount
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. net — for catching
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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