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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: bat · nail · bay · land · march · row · coach · last

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. land — ground
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. last — final
  11. last — to go on
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. march — the month
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. row — a line
  16. land — to come down
  17. march — music
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. land — a country
  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