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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.

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: game · march · press · bay · tube · cold · band · coach

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. press — newspapers
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. tube — the underground
  6. press — a publisher
  7. march — the month
  8. press — to push
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. march — music
  13. game — wild animals
  14. band — a music group
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. cold — an illness
  18. march — the month
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. game — a match
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. tube — a container
  24. band — a ring

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