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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: patient · bark · cold · kick · calf · spell · coach · file

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spell — a short time
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. cold — not warm
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. kick — in football
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. spell — letters
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. bark — to shout
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. spell — magic
  24. file — a tool

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