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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 116 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: patient · coach · mate · dip · kid · stock · snap · cold

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  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. patient — calm and waiting
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. mate — a partner
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. stock — shares
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. stock — goods
  12. mate — to breed
  13. snap — to click
  14. cold — not warm
  15. kid — to tease
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. kid — child
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. mate — a friend
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — a sauce
  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