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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 120 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: bear · chair · pitcher · rest · coach · kick · game · court

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. kick — in football
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. chair — a leader
  8. rest — what's left
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. court — of a king
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. rest — a break
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. pitcher — a jug

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