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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 116 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: mark · cap · wound · coach · trunk · game · bat · race

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. game — wild animals
  4. wound — an injury
  5. race — humankind
  6. bat — the animal
  7. mark — a grade
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. mark — a trace
  15. race — a contest
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cap — of ice
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. game — a match
  24. cap — a lid

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