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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: chair · bat · fall · pit · coach · bear · calf · drill

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. bat — the animal
  5. pit — a hole
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. drill — army training
  9. chair — a leader
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bear — the animal
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. fall — the season
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. bear — the animal
  18. drill — the tool
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. pit — in a race
  21. fall — to drop
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. drill — a practice

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