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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.

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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: swing · wind · pass · chest · wound · coach · chair · tear

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. swing — music
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. pass — a permit
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chest — of your body
  10. tear — to rip
  11. wound — an injury
  12. chair — a leader
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. swing — to play on
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chest — of your body
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. wound — an injury
  21. swing — in golf
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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