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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: cap · march · wound · coach · spring · race · fork · rock

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. wound — an injury
  4. rock — a stone
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a lid
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. march — music
  11. rock — music
  12. fork — in a road
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. race — humankind
  15. spring — a coil
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. cap — a hat
  19. march — the month
  20. spring — of water
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. fork — to eat with

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