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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. ground — the earth
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. kid — child
  7. board — a committee
  8. board — to get on
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. ground — a position
  12. band — a ring
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. band — a music group
  17. row — to paddle
  18. ground — crushed
  19. row — a line
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — in a road
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. kid — to tease

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