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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: coach · fall · racket · cold · last · rock · row · kid

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. row — to paddle
  4. kid — to tease
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rock — music
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. cold — an illness
  10. last — final
  11. fall — to drop
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. last — finally
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. cold — not warm
  16. row — a line
  17. fall — the season
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fall — to drop
  20. rock — a stone
  21. last — to go on
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. kid — child

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