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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.

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: hand · coach · spell · cold · mine · mug · wound · roll

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. mug — to rob
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wound — an injury
  5. spell — a short time
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. roll — a cake
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cold — an illness
  12. spell — letters
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. cold — not warm
  15. spell — magic
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. mug — a face
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. hand — in cards
  20. wound — an injury
  21. mug — a cup
  22. hand — help
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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