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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chair — a leader
  5. land — ground
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wax — to grow
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. land — a country
  12. pit — a hole
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. chest — a box
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. land — to come down
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. pit — in a race
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. bat — the animal
  24. coach — a trainer

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