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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: staff · bowl · mine · chair · swing · field · coach · row

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. swing — to play on
  4. row — a line
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. staff — a stick
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. mine — for digging
  10. swing — music
  11. field — a subject
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. field — farmland
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. row — to paddle
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — employees
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. swing — in golf
  24. field — for sport

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