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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: mark · bark · cap · spell · field · cold · fine · coach

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. cap — a lid
  3. field — farmland
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. field — for sport
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. cap — a hat
  10. fine — all right
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mark — a trace
  13. fine — high quality
  14. bark — to shout
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — a short time
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. spell — magic
  21. field — a subject
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. cap — of ice
  24. mark — a grade

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