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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: hide · coach · tear · ground · cold · snap · charge · pitcher

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. tear — to rip
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. charge — electricity
  12. charge — a price
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. snap — to click
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. ground — the earth
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. ground — a position
  20. cold — an illness
  21. ground — crushed
  22. charge — in control
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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