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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: cold · pop · saw · foot · tear · bear · coach · trunk

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bear — the animal
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pop — music
  11. tear — from crying
  12. saw — the tool
  13. tear — to rip
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. bear — the animal
  18. pop — soda
  19. cold — an illness
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. tear — from crying
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. foot — a measure

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