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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. present — a gift
  3. game — wild animals
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. capital — money
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. game — a match
  12. cold — an illness
  13. stock — shares
  14. capital — a city
  15. present — there
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stock — goods
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. present — the time now
  24. leaves — lets stay

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