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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: court · mate · coach · wake · track · press · ground · cold

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. mate — to breed
  3. mate — a partner
  4. track — a path
  5. press — a publisher
  6. track — a song
  7. court — for sport
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. court — of law
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mate — a friend
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. court — of a king
  16. track — to keep track
  17. press — newspapers
  18. cold — not warm
  19. ground — the earth
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. press — to push
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. ground — crushed

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