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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: field · saw · coach · pound · bass · game · plane · cold

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. field — for sport
  5. cold — an illness
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bass — low music
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. saw — the tool
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. bass — the fish
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. game — wild animals
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. game — a match
  19. plane — a tool
  20. field — a subject
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. saw — the tool
  23. field — farmland
  24. bass — the instrument

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