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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: coach · tear · march · club · kid · last

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. club — for golf
  4. march — the month
  5. last — finally
  6. march — music
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for dancing
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. kid — to tease
  11. last — final
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. tear — to rip
  14. last — to go on
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. march — the month

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