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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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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: face · coach · capital · tube · mouse · march · swing · kid

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. kid — child
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. tube — a container
  7. swing — in golf
  8. face — to confront
  9. capital — a city
  10. face — to point toward
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. tube — the underground
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. face — part of the head
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. swing — to play on
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. swing — music
  24. capital — money

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