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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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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: stick · lie · cold · coach · cell · roll · land · safe

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. roll — a cake
  5. lie — to recline
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. land — to come down
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. land — a country
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. roll — a list
  18. cell — in biology
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  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