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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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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: lean · kick · chip · cold · mine · row · vault · coach

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. lean — to bend
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. chip — to eat
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. cold — an illness
  12. lean — thin
  13. chip — for betting
  14. row — to paddle
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — for digging
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. kick — in football
  22. cold — not warm
  23. vault — a safe
  24. row — a line

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