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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 · pit · pop · bat · coach · safe · calf · race

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. pop — music
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pop — to visit
  9. race — humankind
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. race — a contest
  13. bat — the animal
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. pit — a hole
  20. pit — in a race
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. race — the arms race
  24. pop — soda

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