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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. mate — a friend
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. kid — child
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. kid — to tease
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. march — the month
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mate — a partner
  19. mate — to breed
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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