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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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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: game · stem · coach · cold · saw · toast · fall · fork

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. saw — the tool
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. fall — to drop
  7. toast — bread
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fall — to drop
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. fork — in a road
  12. cold — not warm
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — to come from
  15. game — a match
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — wild animals
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. saw — the tool
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. fall — the season
  24. cold — an illness

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