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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. game — wild animals
  10. chair — a leader
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. field — for sport
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. chest — of your body
  15. field — a subject
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. field — farmland
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — rain
  24. trunk — of a tree

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