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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: coach · plane · deal · net · cold · squash · object · patient

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. object — an aim
  6. net — in sport
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. object — to protest
  10. deal — to handle
  11. plane — a tool
  12. squash — to crush
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. object — a thing
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. cold — not warm
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. squash — the sport
  21. net — for catching
  22. cold — an illness
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. plane — in geometry

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