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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: land · coach · cold · perch · stick · tube · season · hand

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — the fish
  4. land — a country
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. land — to come down
  9. tube — a container
  10. land — ground
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. tube — the underground
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. season — of the year
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. cold — not warm
  21. season — in sport
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hand — help

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