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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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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: wake · coach · pop · temple · cold · march · patient · pitcher

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pop — music
  9. cold — an illness
  10. march — the month
  11. wake — a trail
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. pop — to visit
  16. march — the month
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. march — music
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. pop — soda

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