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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: pit · coach · mine · staff · cold · wind · branch · key

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. pit — a hole
  3. cold — an illness
  4. key — in music
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. wind — moving air
  13. branch — a division
  14. mine — for digging
  15. staff — employees
  16. cold — not warm
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. pit — in a race
  19. key — the most important part
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. wind — moving air
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. key — for a lock

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