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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. chair — a leader
  4. drill — a practice
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. cold — an illness
  7. drill — the tool
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. bear — the animal
  10. drill — army training
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. bear — the animal
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. fork — in a road
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. fork — to eat with

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