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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: ball · coach · field · clip · rush · kick · lie · pit

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. ball — a dance
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. ball — a great time
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. clip — for paper
  9. field — farmland
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. field — a subject
  12. clip — to cut
  13. pit — in a race
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. lie — to recline
  17. kick — in football
  18. pit — a hole
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. rush — hurry
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. clip — a video
  23. field — for sport
  24. ball — a round shape

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