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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ball · wound · kid · spell · chip · cold · plane · coach

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. chip — for betting
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chip — to eat
  6. kid — to tease
  7. spell — letters
  8. ball — a great time
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — magic
  12. ball — a dance
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. plane — a tool
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. plane — an aircraft

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