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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: game · field · coach · mark · rush · fall · cold · stand

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. cold — not warm
  5. mark — a trace
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. field — for sport
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. rush — hurry
  12. fall — the season
  13. stand — to bear
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. mark — a grade
  16. game — a match
  17. field — farmland
  18. fall — to drop
  19. game — wild animals
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fall — to drop
  22. field — a subject
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. coach — a trainer

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