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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 120 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 · land · cap · temple · tear · hand · pop · swing

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. land — a country
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cap — of ice
  5. swing — to play on
  6. hand — help
  7. cap — a lid
  8. tear — to rip
  9. land — ground
  10. pop — soda
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. cap — a hat
  15. tear — from crying
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. pop — to visit
  18. hand — in cards
  19. swing — music
  20. pop — music
  21. land — to come down
  22. swing — in golf
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. hand — part of the body

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