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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. file — a line of people
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. season — of the year
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — a phone
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. file — a tool
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. bear — the animal
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. cell — in biology
  23. file — a document
  24. cold — an illness

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