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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: present · saw · nail · coach · last · row · spell · hand

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. hand — in cards
  3. last — final
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. saw — the tool
  6. hand — help
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. last — to go on
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. last — finally
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. present — the time now
  16. spell — a short time
  17. spell — magic
  18. row — a line
  19. present — a gift
  20. row — to paddle
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. present — there
  23. saw — the tool
  24. coach — a trainer

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