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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: season · mouse · clip · field · cold · coach · cue · fan

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cue — a signal
  3. clip — to cut
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. clip — a video
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. cue — a hint
  8. field — farmland
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. field — a subject
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. season — in sport
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. season — of the year
  16. field — for sport
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cue — for pool
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. cold — an illness

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