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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. wound — an injury
  5. game — wild animals
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. march — the month
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wake — a trail
  14. game — a match
  15. swing — in golf
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. swing — music
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. march — the month
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. march — music
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. swing — to play on

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