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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. season — in sport
  3. kid — child
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. foot — a measure
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. stand — to bear
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. season — of the year
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. mine — for digging
  18. kid — to tease
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. snap — to click
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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