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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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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: fan · court · band · racket · coach · pit · patient · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pit — a hole
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. pit — in a race
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. band — a music group
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. court — of law
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. band — a ring
  24. cold — not warm

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