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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: stem · mine · cap · degree · hide · coach · cold · snap

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. stem — to come from
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cap — a hat
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. degree — from a university
  9. mine — for digging
  10. degree — an amount
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. cold — not warm
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cap — a lid
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. degree — temperature
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. cap — of ice

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