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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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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: chest · track · race · tear · present · coach · cold · cue

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. cue — for pool
  4. cue — a hint
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. chest — of your body
  7. race — the arms race
  8. tear — from crying
  9. track — a path
  10. cold — an illness
  11. present — the time now
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chest — a box
  14. track — a song
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. cue — a signal
  17. present — there
  18. cold — not warm
  19. chest — of your body
  20. track — to keep track
  21. race — a contest
  22. present — a gift
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. tear — to rip

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