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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.

Make a worksheet

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 · spring · lash · file · cold · board · ground · wave

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. board — to get on
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. ground — a position
  5. file — a tool
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. spring — the season
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ground — crushed
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. ground — the earth
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. file — a document
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. board — a committee
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. cold — an illness
  21. file — a line of people
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — a coil
  24. cold — the Cold War

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