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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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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: band · chest · coach · drill · chair · wind · key · bass

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. drill — army training
  3. drill — the tool
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bass — the fish
  6. bass — low music
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. key — in music
  10. key — the most important part
  11. band — a ring
  12. key — for a lock
  13. band — a music group
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. coach — a trainer

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