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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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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: trunk · rule · cell · game · coach · ground · swing · cap

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. ground — crushed
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. cap — of ice
  7. swing — music
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. cell — in biology
  10. rule — government
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cap — a hat
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ground — a position
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. game — a match
  18. cap — a lid
  19. swing — to play on
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. swing — in golf
  22. game — wild animals
  23. rule — a law
  24. coach — a trainer

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