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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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Word bank
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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: track · coach · clip · mate · cold · racket

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. clip — a video
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — to breed
  6. track — a song
  7. cold — not warm
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cold — an illness
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. track — a path
  12. mate — a friend
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. track — to keep track
  16. clip — for paper
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cold — the Cold War

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