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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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Word bank
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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: track · coach · file · swing · net · march · drill · current

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. swing — in golf
  5. track — a song
  6. drill — the tool
  7. swing — music
  8. swing — to play on
  9. track — to keep track
  10. current — happening now
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — in sport
  14. current — of water
  15. file — a line of people
  16. drill — army training
  17. file — a tool
  18. drill — a practice
  19. net — for catching
  20. file — a document
  21. march — the month
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. track — a path
  24. current — electric

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