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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.

Make a worksheet

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: staff · track · cold · mate · mine · content · wound · coach

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — a stick
  4. mate — a partner
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. track — a path
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. track — to keep track
  11. mate — a friend
  12. track — a song
  13. cold — an illness
  14. content — the amount
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. mate — to breed
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — happy
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. staff — employees
  22. mine — for digging
  23. cold — not warm
  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