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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: leaves · chair · vault · content · temple · wind · cold · coach

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. cold — not warm
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. content — happy
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. content — the amount
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wind — moving air
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. chair — a leader
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. vault — a safe
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. wind — moving air

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