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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chest · rash · key · bark · coach · bear · pitcher · capital

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. rash — hasty
  3. key — the most important part
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bark — to shout
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. rash — a series
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. key — in music
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bear — the animal
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. capital — a city
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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