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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.

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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: field · foot · coach · cold · can · pop · sharp · bat

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. can — a tin
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. field — for sport
  6. can — to be able to
  7. bat — the animal
  8. pop — soda
  9. pop — music
  10. can — a tin
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. field — farmland
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. field — a subject
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. pop — to visit
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. foot — a measure
  24. coach — a trainer

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