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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: rush · cold · mine · wake · sharp · coach · snap · tube

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — the underground
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. rush — hurry
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. cold — not warm
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. wake — a trail
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mine — for digging
  22. sharp — clever
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. snap — to click

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