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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: rock · wind · kick · chair · coach · field

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. rock — music
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. rock — a stone
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. chair — a leader
  13. field — farmland
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. wind — moving air
  18. kick — in football

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