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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: pit · date · cold · vault · race · chest · coach · prune

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. race — a contest
  4. chest — a box
  5. race — humankind
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. vault — a safe
  10. race — the arms race
  11. date — the fruit
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. prune — to trim
  14. chest — of your body
  15. pit — in a race
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — a hole
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. date — on the calendar

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