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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. net — after costs
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. net — in sport
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. cell — in biology
  7. foot — a measure
  8. march — the month
  9. hand — help
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. hand — in cards
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. net — for catching
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — a phone
  17. wake — a trail
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mate — a partner
  20. march — the month
  21. mate — to breed
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. march — music
  24. coach — a trainer

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