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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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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. hand — help
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. chest — a box
  6. cap — a hat
  7. object — to protest
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cap — a lid
  12. spring — the season
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. object — a thing
  19. spring — a coil
  20. object — an aim
  21. spring — of water
  22. hand — in cards
  23. chest — of your body
  24. deal — to handle

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