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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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. march — music
  3. wound — an injury
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. row — to paddle
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. stem — to come from
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. fall — to drop
  13. snap — to click
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. wound — an injury
  18. march — the month
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. row — a line
  22. march — the month
  23. stand — to bear
  24. stem — of a plant

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