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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  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. kid — child
  3. march — music
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. press — a publisher
  7. pop — soda
  8. press — to push
  9. file — a line of people
  10. march — the month
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pop — to visit
  15. press — newspapers
  16. file — a tool
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. pop — music
  19. mine — for digging
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. march — the month
  22. file — a document
  23. coach — a trainer
  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