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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 · capital · wind · coach · game · patient · pass · track

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. wind — moving air
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wind — moving air
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. cold — an illness
  9. game — wild animals
  10. capital — money
  11. cold — not warm
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. pass — a permit
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. track — a song
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. capital — a city
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. track — a path
  23. track — to keep track
  24. game — a match

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