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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: pound · tear · coach · mine · squash · patient · craft · pop

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. tear — from crying
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pop — music
  12. squash — the sport
  13. mine — for digging
  14. pop — to visit
  15. tear — to rip
  16. craft — boats
  17. squash — to crush
  18. pop — soda
  19. craft — a skill
  20. tear — from crying
  21. pound — a weight
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. mine — an explosive

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