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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. squash — the sport
  4. mine — for digging
  5. fall — to drop
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. rock — music
  8. shower — to wash
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. fall — the season
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. fall — to drop
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. court — of a king
  16. rock — a stone
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. shower — rain
  20. court — of law
  21. court — for sport
  22. march — the month
  23. squash — to crush
  24. mine — an explosive

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