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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: sharp · wound · coach · chair · kid · march · cold · deal

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. march — the month
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. deal — to handle
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. march — the month
  13. kid — to tease
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. sharp — clever
  19. cold — an illness
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. chair — a leader
  22. wound — an injury
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — the Cold War

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