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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. spring — the season
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — crushed
  7. fall — to drop
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. race — the arms race
  12. season — in sport
  13. race — humankind
  14. spring — of water
  15. race — a contest
  16. bark — to shout
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. fall — to drop
  19. ground — the earth
  20. fall — the season
  21. tear — from crying
  22. season — of the year
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. spring — a coil

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