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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: net · tear · season · court · roll · cold · coach · rash

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. roll — a cake
  6. court — of a king
  7. tear — from crying
  8. roll — a list
  9. court — of law
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rash — hasty
  12. tear — from crying
  13. net — after costs
  14. season — of the year
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. tear — to rip
  18. court — for sport
  19. net — for catching
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. net — in sport
  22. season — in sport
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rash — a series

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