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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 120 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: suit · wind · lie · tear · coach · ball · cold · march

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — an illness
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. ball — a great time
  8. suit — to fit
  9. ball — a dance
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. march — music
  12. wind — moving air
  13. tear — to rip
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. suit — in cards
  16. tear — from crying
  17. march — the month
  18. tear — from crying
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. suit — clothes
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. lie — to recline
  23. march — the month
  24. ball — a round shape

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