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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: mark · band · dip · fall · season · pound · coach · bat

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  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. mark — to pay attention
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. pound — a weight
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. season — of the year
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. band — a music group
  13. fall — the season
  14. dip — to sink
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bat — the animal
  17. mark — a trace
  18. mark — a grade
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. season — in sport
  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