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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: chair · plane · wake · cell · tear · coach

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. wake — a trail
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. plane — a tool
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. cell — a phone
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. chair — a leader

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