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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 116 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: pound · wake · wound · straw · coach · fall · branch · march

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. march — music
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. pound — a weight
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fall — to drop
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. fall — to drop
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. wake — a trail
  18. march — the month
  19. fall — the season
  20. branch — a division
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. march — the month
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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