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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: tube · last · straw · face · cold · coach · arm · root

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. root — of a word
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. last — to go on
  10. root — the cause
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. cold — not warm
  17. face — to confront
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. face — part of the head
  20. root — of a plant
  21. last — final
  22. tube — a container
  23. face — to point toward
  24. last — finally

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