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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: season · coach · trunk · cell · bore · wound · mate · pop

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. wound — an injury
  3. mate — to breed
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. cell — in biology
  6. pop — music
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. season — in sport
  9. pop — soda
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. pop — to visit
  12. wound — an injury
  13. season — of the year
  14. bore — to tire
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bore — to drill
  17. mate — a friend
  18. cell — a phone
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. bore — gave birth

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