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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: coach · stand · lash · ball · cold · face · bark · hide

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. face — to confront
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. cold — an illness
  6. face — to point toward
  7. stand — to bear
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. ball — a dance
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. ball — a great time
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. bark — to shout
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. face — part of the head

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