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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 116 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: can · cap · coach · bass · net · straw · chair · rash

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. cap — a hat
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. cap — of ice
  6. can — to be able to
  7. can — a tin
  8. net — after costs
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. cap — a lid
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. rash — hasty
  13. net — in sport
  14. bass — low music
  15. chair — a leader
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. can — a tin
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. net — for catching
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. rash — a series
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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