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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: coach · file · game · pass · fork · bat · pound · mate

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. mate — a partner
  4. game — wild animals
  5. pass — a permit
  6. file — a tool
  7. pound — a weight
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. fork — in a road
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. file — a line of people
  15. mate — a friend
  16. game — a match
  17. bat — the animal
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. mate — to breed
  20. file — a document
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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