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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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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: cold · chair · board · chip · field · stick · lie · coach

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. field — for sport
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. field — farmland
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. chip — to eat
  11. board — a committee
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. chair — a leader
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. lie — to recline
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. field — a subject
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. chip — for betting
  23. board — to get on
  24. board — a flat piece

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