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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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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: cap · chair · rest · coach · cell · capital

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  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 professorship
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. cap — of ice
  6. rest — what's left
  7. chair — a leader
  8. rest — a break
  9. cap — a hat
  10. rest — what's left
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cap — a lid
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. coach — a trainer
  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