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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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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 · cap · cold · bore · chest · last · spring · pit

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. last — to go on
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cap — of ice
  5. bore — to drill
  6. spring — the season
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bore — to tire
  10. cap — a lid
  11. last — final
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. spring — a coil
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pit — in a race
  19. last — finally
  20. cold — not warm
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. spring — of water
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chest — of your body

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