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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. land — ground
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. mate — a partner
  5. face — to confront
  6. court — for sport
  7. land — a country
  8. march — the month
  9. land — to come down
  10. mate — a friend
  11. cap — of ice
  12. face — part of the head
  13. court — of a king
  14. cap — a hat
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. face — to point toward
  17. march — the month
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. court — of law
  20. mate — to breed
  21. bark — to shout
  22. march — music
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. cap — a lid

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