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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. stand — to bear
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. can — a tin
  5. squash — to crush
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. field — farmland
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. field — for sport
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. cold — not warm
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. can — a tin
  17. field — a subject
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. can — to be able to
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. chair — a leader
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. cold — an illness
  24. squash — the sport

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