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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 116 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 · cold · track · chip · face · lie · rest · ground

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. ground — a position
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. face — to point toward
  5. chip — to eat
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rest — what's left
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. face — part of the head
  10. ground — the earth
  11. track — a path
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. face — to confront
  14. track — a song
  15. track — to keep track
  16. ground — crushed
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cold — not warm
  19. lie — to recline
  20. rest — a break
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. chip — in a computer

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