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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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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: coach · bear · key · cold · last · bank · nail · chest

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. last — final
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — the animal
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. key — the most important part
  12. bank — for money
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chest — of your body
  15. key — for a lock
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bank — of a river
  19. last — to go on
  20. key — in music
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. bank — for money
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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