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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: coach · craft · field · cold · squash · spell · deal · chair

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. craft — a skill
  4. deal — to handle
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. chair — a leader
  7. craft — boats
  8. squash — to crush
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. spell — a short time
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. field — a subject
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. field — farmland
  20. spell — magic
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. field — for sport

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