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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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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: pop · swing · kid · bay · march · mine · race · coach

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. kid — child
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. pop — music
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. swing — in golf
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. race — a contest
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. race — the arms race
  14. pop — to visit
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. swing — to play on
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. march — the month
  19. mine — for digging
  20. march — music
  21. race — humankind
  22. march — the month
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. swing — music

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