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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: clip · pitch · mouse · cold · shower · object · spring · coach

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spring — of water
  3. shower — rain
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. clip — for paper
  6. object — a thing
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. spring — the season
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. object — an aim
  19. spring — a coil
  20. shower — to wash
  21. object — to protest
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pitch — completely
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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