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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pop — to visit
  4. march — music
  5. pop — soda
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. mine — for digging
  10. can — to be able to
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — a tin
  13. kick — in football
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pop — music
  17. degree — an amount
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. degree — from a university
  20. march — the month
  21. wound — an injury
  22. march — the month
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. coach — a trainer

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