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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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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: field · cold · stock · kid · coach · rule · safe · sharp

  1. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. field — for sport
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. kid — to tease
  8. sharp — clever
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. rule — government
  14. stock — shares
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. kid — child
  17. field — a subject
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. field — farmland
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. stock — goods
  22. rule — a law
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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