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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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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. mate — a partner
  3. club — a group
  4. rock — music
  5. bore — to tire
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. kid — child
  8. face — part of the head
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. mate — a friend
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bore — to drill
  16. pitch — completely
  17. face — to point toward
  18. mate — to breed
  19. face — to confront
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. club — for dancing
  22. club — for golf
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. rock — a stone

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