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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: drill · pop · march · fine · capital · coach · cell · mine

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. pop — soda
  4. fine — all right
  5. cell — a phone
  6. capital — money
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. pop — to visit
  9. drill — army training
  10. cell — in biology
  11. march — music
  12. drill — a practice
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. march — the month
  15. capital — a city
  16. mine — for digging
  17. fine — high quality
  18. pop — music
  19. march — the month
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. drill — the tool
  24. cell — in a prison

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