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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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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: shower · coach · swing · kick · cap · band · stick · field

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. cap — a lid
  3. field — a subject
  4. shower — to wash
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. band — a ring
  8. field — for sport
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. cap — of ice
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. shower — rain
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. swing — music
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. band — a music group
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. kick — in football
  20. swing — in golf
  21. field — farmland
  22. swing — to play on
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. cap — a hat

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