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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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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: arm · cold · file · toast · swing · stick · last · coach

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. toast — bread
  4. swing — music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. last — finally
  7. file — a tool
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. cold — an illness
  13. swing — in golf
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. file — a document
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. cold — not warm
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. last — final
  24. file — a line of people

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