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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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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: coach · bay · hand · chair · content · pound · toast · date

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. hand — in cards
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. toast — bread
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. hand — help
  12. pound — a weight
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. date — the fruit
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. content — the amount
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. date — on the calendar

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