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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: tear · wake · bat · cold · cue · drill · coach · cabinet

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. drill — the tool
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bat — the animal
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cue — a hint
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cue — for pool
  20. tear — from crying
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. tear — to rip
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — army training

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