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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: lie · stem · kick · cold · bulb · swing · coach · file

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a document
  5. stem — to come from
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. lie — to recline
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. swing — music
  10. bulb — for light
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. kick — in football
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. swing — in golf
  19. cold — an illness
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. bulb — for light
  22. file — a line of people
  23. swing — to play on
  24. cold — not warm

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