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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: wake · track · face · kid · pit · court · cold · coach

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. wake — a trail
  4. kid — child
  5. court — for sport
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — to tease
  9. face — part of the head
  10. track — a song
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. court — of a king
  15. track — a path
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — in a race
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. cold — not warm
  23. face — to confront
  24. track — to keep track

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