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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. chest — a box
  3. chest — of your body
  4. perch — the fish
  5. march — the month
  6. chest — of your body
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. hand — help
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. foot — a measure
  15. wound — an injury
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. hand — in cards
  19. wound — an injury
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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