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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: net · kick · cap · present · temple · kid · coach · mine

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. net — after costs
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. present — the time now
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cap — a hat
  8. kid — child
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. cap — of ice
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. present — a gift
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. mine — for digging
  18. present — there
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kick — in football
  22. net — for catching
  23. net — in sport
  24. kick — with a leg

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