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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: shower · coach · field · chest · spring · wax · cue · kick

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. kick — in football
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cue — a hint
  8. wax — to grow
  9. spring — the season
  10. cue — for pool
  11. spring — of water
  12. field — farmland
  13. cue — a signal
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. spring — a coil
  16. chest — of your body
  17. shower — to wash
  18. field — for sport
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. field — a subject
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. shower — rain
  24. kick — a thrill

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