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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wax · march · bark · spell · chest · coach · chair · capital

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. march — the month
  4. spell — letters
  5. capital — a city
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. chest — a box
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. spell — a short time
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. capital — money
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. spell — magic
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wax — to grow
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bark — to shout
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. chair — a professorship

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