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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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Word bank
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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: mine · content · court · chair · nail · coach

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — a leader
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. court — of law
  12. court — of a king
  13. mine — for digging
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. court — for sport
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. content — the amount

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