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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: coach · chest · game · swing · fall · pitcher · craft · rule

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. craft — boats
  4. rule — government
  5. rule — a law
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. swing — music
  9. fall — to drop
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. fall — the season
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. swing — in golf
  18. game — wild animals
  19. swing — to play on
  20. craft — a skill
  21. fall — to drop
  22. game — a match
  23. chest — of your body
  24. pitcher — a jug

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