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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: club · court · mate · hand · sharp · coach · board · chest

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. court — of a king
  3. club — for golf
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. chest — of your body
  6. board — a committee
  7. mate — a partner
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. sharp — clever
  10. club — a group
  11. court — of law
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. chest — of your body
  14. mate — a friend
  15. chest — a box
  16. hand — in cards
  17. mate — to breed
  18. court — for sport
  19. club — for dancing
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. board — to get on
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. sharp — with an edge

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