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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 116 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: fork · clip · coach · season · cold · cue · land · lean

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. clip — for paper
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. cold — not warm
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. season — of the year
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. clip — a video
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cue — for pool
  14. cue — a hint
  15. season — in sport
  16. land — a country
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. lean — to bend
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fork — in a road
  21. cue — a signal
  22. land — to come down
  23. clip — to cut
  24. land — ground

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