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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  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. coach — pulled by horses
  2. present — there
  3. face — to confront
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. track — to keep track
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — letters
  8. present — the time now
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. present — a gift
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. mine — for digging
  18. face — to point toward
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. face — part of the head
  21. track — a song
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. spell — a short time
  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