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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: wound · mine · nail · race · coach · saw · pop · drill

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. drill — army training
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. mine — for digging
  10. race — humankind
  11. saw — the tool
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. pop — to visit
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. race — the arms race
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. drill — a practice
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. race — a contest
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — soda
  23. wound — an injury
  24. drill — the tool

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