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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: stand · shower · coach · band · chair · foot · fork · mine

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. chair — a leader
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. mine — for digging
  11. stand — to bear
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. band — a music group
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. shower — to wash
  16. foot — a measure
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. band — a ring
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. shower — rain
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. fork — in a road
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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