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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: coach · bat · mark · hand · degree · game · bore · chair

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. game — wild animals
  3. mark — a trace
  4. hand — in cards
  5. chair — a leader
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bat — the animal
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. hand — help
  10. game — a match
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bore — to tire
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bore — to drill
  18. mark — a grade
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. mark — to pay attention

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