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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. game — a match
  3. mark — a grade
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. bear — the animal
  11. band — a music group
  12. file — a document
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. mark — a trace
  15. band — a ring
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — wild animals
  20. file — a line of people
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. bear — the animal
  23. fork — in a road
  24. file — a tool

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