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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: rash · coach · cold · sharp · bore · trunk · cell · row

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rash — hasty
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cold — not warm
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. bore — to drill
  9. sharp — clever
  10. cell — a phone
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. rash — a series
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bore — to tire
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. row — a line
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. row — to paddle

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