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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 116 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 · wound · bay · bass · pound · face · coach · straw

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bass — the fish
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. pound — a weight
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. face — part of the head
  13. face — to confront
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. face — to point toward
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bass — low music
  24. bass — the instrument

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