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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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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: hand · jam · scale · swing · pass · race · cold · coach

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  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. pass — a permit
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. swing — music
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. race — the arms race
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. cold — an illness
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — to play on
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. race — humankind
  15. hand — help
  16. race — a contest
  17. hand — in cards
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. scale — for weighing
  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