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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.

Make a worksheet

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: straw · coach · bass · degree · chest · safe · clip · court

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bass — the fish
  3. degree — an amount
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. degree — temperature
  7. chest — of your body
  8. court — of a king
  9. chest — a box
  10. bass — low music
  11. clip — for paper
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of law
  16. clip — to cut
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. clip — a video
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. degree — from a university
  24. safe — a strongbox

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