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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: wound · cell · kid · coach · content · chair · staff · can

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cell — a phone
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. kid — child
  7. staff — employees
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. staff — a stick
  10. can — to be able to
  11. can — a tin
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. content — the amount
  17. wound — an injury
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a leader
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. content — happy
  23. staff — employees
  24. cell — in biology

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