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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: wax · mark · rest · cold · coach · rash · kick · chair

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. rest — a break
  4. cold — an illness
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. rash — hasty
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. mark — a trace
  12. mark — a grade
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. rest — what's left
  16. kick — in football
  17. rest — what's left
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. rash — a series
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chair — a leader
  24. coach — a trainer

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