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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · pitch · bark · lean · coach · dip · stem · court

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. cold — not warm
  3. court — for sport
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. dip — to sink
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. cold — an illness
  10. court — of a king
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. stem — to come from
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — completely
  23. court — of law
  24. lean — to bend

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