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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — finally
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — the earth
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. chair — a leader
  11. court — of law
  12. court — for sport
  13. mug — a cup
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. kid — child
  16. ground — a position
  17. mug — to rob
  18. kid — to tease
  19. mug — a face
  20. court — of a king
  21. last — final
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kick — in football
  24. chair — to sit on

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