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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 116 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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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: present · bore · coach · mate · cold · cap · fall · clip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. cold — not warm
  3. clip — a video
  4. mate — a partner
  5. clip — to cut
  6. present — there
  7. bore — to drill
  8. fall — to drop
  9. present — a gift
  10. bore — to tire
  11. mate — to breed
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cap — a lid
  16. mate — a friend
  17. fall — the season
  18. present — the time now
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cap — of ice
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. cold — an illness
  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