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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. last — to go on
  4. swing — in golf
  5. swing — music
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fork — in a road
  8. land — to come down
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. land — a country
  12. last — finally
  13. pitch — completely
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. swing — to play on
  17. cold — an illness
  18. land — ground
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. last — final
  24. cold — not warm

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