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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 120 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: band · wake · cue · tear · coach · pit · cold · field

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. tear — from crying
  3. field — for sport
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cue — for pool
  6. field — a subject
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. pit — in a race
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. field — farmland
  14. cue — a hint
  15. cue — a signal
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. pit — a hole
  18. band — a ring
  19. tear — to rip
  20. wake — a trail
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. band — a music group

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