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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: fork · lean · cabinet · cold · court · ground · kick · coach

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. ground — crushed
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — in football
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. court — of a king
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fork — in a road
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. ground — a position
  17. lean — thin
  18. ground — the earth
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. court — of law
  21. lean — to bend
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. court — for sport
  24. cabinet — ministers

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