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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 120 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: hand · cold · coach · plane · pit · present · cap · mine

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. present — there
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pit — in a race
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. pit — a hole
  10. present — a gift
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cap — of ice
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. cap — a lid
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. plane — a tool
  22. present — the time now
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. plane — in geometry

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