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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: court · cold · hand · cue · perch · wake · coach · fall

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. court — for sport
  4. hand — help
  5. fall — the season
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. cue — for pool
  8. cue — a hint
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. fall — to drop
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cold — an illness
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cue — a signal
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. hand — in cards
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. fall — to drop
  22. perch — the fish
  23. cold — not warm
  24. coach — a trainer

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