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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. cap — a hat
  5. file — a line of people
  6. wound — an injury
  7. file — a tool
  8. season — of the year
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cap — a lid
  11. capital — a city
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. row — to paddle
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — money
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cap — of ice
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. row — a line
  22. wind — moving air
  23. season — in sport
  24. file — a document

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