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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: land · hand · game · track · coach · racket · last · pass

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. last — final
  3. pass — a permit
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. hand — help
  6. game — wild animals
  7. land — to come down
  8. track — a song
  9. last — to go on
  10. hand — in cards
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. land — ground
  13. last — finally
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. track — to keep track
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. game — a match
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. land — a country
  23. track — a path
  24. pass — to spend time

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