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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: band · straw · root · bat · wound · foot · wake · coach

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — an injury
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. foot — a measure
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. band — a ring
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. root — of a plant
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. bat — the animal
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. band — a music group
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. root — of a word
  20. root — the cause
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. straw — a straw man

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