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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: lean · cold · court · face · coach · row · sharp · arm

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. lean — thin
  5. court — of law
  6. court — for sport
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. lean — to bend
  9. row — to paddle
  10. court — of a king
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. cold — an illness
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. cold — not warm
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. face — to point toward

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