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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wake — a trail
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cold — not warm
  7. last — final
  8. spring — the season
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. last — finally
  11. cold — an illness
  12. deal — to handle
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. spring — of water
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. spring — a coil
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. last — to go on
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. wake — before a funeral

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