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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: shower · sharp · drill · fan · chair · coach

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. shower — to wash
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. drill — a practice
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. shower — rain
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. drill — army training
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. drill — the tool
  16. sharp — clever
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. coach — pulled by horses

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