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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: chair · trunk · coach · net · capital · spell · mate · shower

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. mate — a partner
  4. chair — a leader
  5. shower — rain
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. mate — to breed
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. spell — a short time
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — money
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. mate — a friend
  16. shower — to wash
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — after costs
  19. spell — letters
  20. spell — magic
  21. net — in sport
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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