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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: cold · hand · snap · coach · clip · row · lean · patient

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. clip — for paper
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. hand — in cards
  7. row — to paddle
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. cold — an illness
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. row — a line
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cold — not warm
  14. clip — to cut
  15. hand — help
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. lean — to bend
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. clip — a video
  24. snap — to click

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