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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: chest · swing · can · cold · mate · degree · pitch · coach

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. swing — to play on
  3. can — to be able to
  4. can — a tin
  5. swing — in golf
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pitch — completely
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mate — a partner
  10. chest — a box
  11. swing — music
  12. chest — of your body
  13. degree — temperature
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. degree — an amount
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mate — to breed
  20. can — a tin
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. degree — from a university
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. cold — the Cold War

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