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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. spring — a coil
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. kid — to tease
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. pitch — completely
  12. spring — the season
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — of ice
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. spring — of water
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. bat — the animal
  23. kid — child
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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