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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: bowl · game · snap · bark · coach · wound · march · chest

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  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. bowl — a football final
  2. bark — to shout
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. game — wild animals
  12. snap — to click
  13. wound — an injury
  14. chest — a box
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. game — a match
  18. march — the month
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. wound — an injury
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. bowl — to roll
  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