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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: march · coach · pitcher · clip · fall · hide · saw · wake

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. clip — to cut
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. march — the month
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. fall — to drop
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. fall — the season
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. saw — the tool
  13. march — music
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. clip — a video
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. clip — for paper
  20. saw — the tool
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. march — the month

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