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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: mate · coach · march · land · bay · sharp · field · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. sharp — clever
  3. field — farmland
  4. content — the amount
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. field — a subject
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. field — for sport
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. mate — to breed
  11. land — a country
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. mate — a partner
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. mate — a friend
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. march — music
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — ground
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. content — videos and posts

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