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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: cold · cell · mark · coach · rest · spring · fork · bear

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. rest — what's left
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. spring — of water
  6. bear — the animal
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. spring — the season
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rest — what's left
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. bear — the animal
  15. spring — a coil
  16. mark — a trace
  17. rest — a break
  18. mark — a grade
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in biology

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