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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: march · rush · land · snap · calf · coach · wind · ruler

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. march — music
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. land — ground
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. land — to come down
  10. snap — to click
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. march — the month
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rush — hurry
  19. march — the month
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. land — a country
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. ruler — a monarch

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