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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. mug — a cup
  3. net — in sport
  4. fall — to drop
  5. mine — for digging
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fall — to drop
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. pitch — completely
  16. mug — to rob
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. cold — an illness
  20. mug — a face
  21. net — after costs
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fall — the season
  24. net — for catching

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