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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 120 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: pop · press · trunk · ball · cold · wound · rock · coach

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. pop — to visit
  3. press — to push
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. rock — a stone
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. press — a publisher
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. pop — music
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. ball — a great time
  15. rock — music
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. ball — a dance
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pop — soda
  22. press — newspapers
  23. wound — an injury
  24. rock — to move gently

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