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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 · kid · rock · shower · capital · pound · bound · race

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. rock — music
  3. bound — tied together
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. race — a contest
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bound — certain
  10. bound — obliged
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — a city
  13. pound — a weight
  14. race — the arms race
  15. capital — money
  16. rock — a stone
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. kid — child
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. race — humankind
  24. rock — to move gently

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