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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. cold — an illness
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. fine — high quality
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. mate — to breed
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. mate — a partner
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. march — the month
  14. mate — a friend
  15. hand — in cards
  16. march — music
  17. hand — help
  18. march — the month
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — the fish
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pound — a weight
  23. fine — all right
  24. perch — for a bird

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