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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: chair · cell · coach · kid · rash · trunk · net · capital

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. net — for catching
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. kid — to tease
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. net — after costs
  11. cell — in biology
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. capital — money
  15. chair — a leader
  16. rash — a series
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. rash — hasty
  19. capital — a city
  20. cell — a phone
  21. kid — child
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. net — in sport
  24. coach — a trainer

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