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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: staff · jam · shower · march · kid · coach · spring · scale

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. scale — in music
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. kid — to tease
  8. staff — employees
  9. march — the month
  10. scale — size or range
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. staff — employees
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. spring — the season
  16. march — music
  17. shower — rain
  18. spring — a coil
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. spring — of water
  22. march — the month
  23. kid — child
  24. shower — to wash

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