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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rule · wind · coach · kick · season · cold

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. 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. season — to add flavour
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. season — of the year
  4. wind — moving air
  5. kick — in football
  6. cold — an illness
  7. season — in sport
  8. rule — a law
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. cold — not warm
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. rule — government
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. 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