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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: wound · bowl · cap · cold · coach · ground · rush · track

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. ground — a position
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. track — a path
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. ground — crushed
  13. track — a song
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wound — an injury
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. track — to keep track
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. ground — the earth
  22. cap — of ice
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. cap — a hat

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