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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. 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. coach — a trainer
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. field — farmland
  5. chip — to eat
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. stem — to come from
  9. cold — not warm
  10. chip — for betting
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. field — for sport
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. field — a subject
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. cold — an illness
  18. 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