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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: coach · wound · drill · season · game · band · file · root

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  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. season — to add flavour
  2. root — of a word
  3. season — in sport
  4. drill — a practice
  5. wound — an injury
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — wild animals
  9. file — a line of people
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. root — of a plant
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. file — a document
  16. band — a music group
  17. season — of the year
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. root — the cause
  20. drill — the tool
  21. wound — an injury
  22. drill — army training
  23. file — a tool
  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