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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: mine · coach · cell · straw · mark · bass · snap · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  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. last — final
  2. bass — the fish
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. cell — in biology
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. snap — to click
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. bass — low music
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. last — finally
  17. mark — a grade
  18. last — to go on
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mark — a trace
  23. mark — to pay attention
  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