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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. swing — in golf
  3. charge — electricity
  4. chair — a leader
  5. cold — an illness
  6. sharp — clever
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. swing — music
  9. charge — in control
  10. swing — to play on
  11. cue — a hint
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. charge — a price
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. cue — a signal
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wound — an injury

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