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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: face · bank · cap · jam · coach · hand · cold · kid

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. hand — help
  3. kid — child
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cap — of ice
  6. face — to point toward
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. bank — of a river
  9. cap — a hat
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. face — part of the head
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cap — a lid
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. kid — to tease
  20. bank — for money
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. cold — not warm
  24. face — to confront

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