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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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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. last — finally
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. cold — an illness
  6. last — final
  7. lean — thin
  8. court — of law
  9. wake — a trail
  10. court — for sport
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bore — to drill
  13. last — to go on
  14. court — of a king
  15. cold — not warm
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — a position
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. ground — crushed
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bore — to tire

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