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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
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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: trunk · court · coach · lie · drill · field · snap · squash

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. court — of a king
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. lie — to recline
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. snap — to click
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. court — of law
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. drill — army training
  12. field — a subject
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. court — for sport
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. field — for sport
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — the sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — a practice

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