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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: coach · kick · hand · perch · pound · cold · row · fan

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  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. pound — to hit hard
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pound — a weight
  12. hand — help
  13. kick — in football
  14. row — to paddle
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — the fish
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. row — a line
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. hand — in cards
  23. row — a quarrel
  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