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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  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. mine — an explosive
  2. kick — in football
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. rock — music
  6. cold — an illness
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — in golf
  9. cold — not warm
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. field — for sport
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. mate — a partner
  14. field — a subject
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. swing — music
  17. mate — a friend
  18. field — farmland
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — for digging
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mate — to breed
  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