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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 124 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.

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: cold · court · file · coach · field · leaves · fan · can

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. cold — not warm
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. file — a tool
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — for sport
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. court — of a king
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. court — for sport
  14. can — to be able to
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. can — a tin
  18. field — farmland
  19. court — of law
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. file — a document
  22. cold — an illness
  23. file — a line of people
  24. leaves — lets stay

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