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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: bulb · stand · coach · saw · wake · kid · field · cold

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. stand — to bear
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bulb — for light
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. saw — the tool
  15. field — farmland
  16. saw — the tool
  17. field — for sport
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. kid — child
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. field — a subject
  22. wake — a trail
  23. bulb — for light
  24. stand — on your feet

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