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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: wound · snap · rash · dip · cold · calf · content · coach

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. content — happy
  4. rash — a series
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. snap — to click
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. rash — hasty
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. content — the amount
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. dip — to sink
  17. cold — an illness
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. wound — an injury
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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