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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: drill · march · stem · jam · bowl · coach · cold · plane

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. cold — not warm
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. march — music
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. drill — army training
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. drill — a practice
  19. plane — a tool
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. drill — the tool
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. stem — to come from

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