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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 116 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: stock · cold · bass · wound · rock · coach · court · swing

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bass — low music
  3. court — for sport
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stock — shares
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. swing — in golf
  11. rock — a stone
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. swing — music
  16. bass — the fish
  17. cold — an illness
  18. court — of law
  19. court — of a king
  20. wound — an injury
  21. swing — to play on
  22. stock — goods
  23. rock — music
  24. wound — an injury

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