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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: kid · chair · pitcher · ball · tear · coach · plane · cap

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cap — of ice
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. ball — a great time
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cap — a lid
  10. tear — from crying
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. ball — a dance
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cap — a hat
  18. kid — child
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. plane — a tool
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. ball — a round shape

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