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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · fall · mine · field · mate · march · straw · coach

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. march — the month
  4. spring — a coil
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. mate — a partner
  9. fall — to drop
  10. spring — the season
  11. mate — to breed
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. march — the month
  15. spring — of water
  16. fall — the season
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. march — music
  19. fall — to drop
  20. field — for sport
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. mine — for digging
  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