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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: mark · kid · pass · coach · straw · cold · swing · squash

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. pass — a permit
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. swing — to play on
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. kid — to tease
  8. squash — to crush
  9. swing — music
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. cold — an illness
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. kid — child
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. mark — a trace
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. swing — in golf
  21. mark — a grade
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. squash — the sport

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