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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.

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: file · cold · fork · present · suit · coach · band · game

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. suit — clothes
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. present — the time now
  8. file — a tool
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cold — an illness
  11. suit — to fit
  12. fork — in a road
  13. file — a document
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. suit — in cards
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. present — there
  20. file — a line of people
  21. present — a gift
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. band — a music group
  24. coach — a trainer

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