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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 120 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: deal · bore · calf · chest · capital · coach · cold · drill

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. bore — to tire
  4. deal — to handle
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. drill — the tool
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. bore — to drill
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. drill — army training
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. chest — a box
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. chest — of your body
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. capital — a city
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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