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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: hand · straw · net · rash · chair · land · coach · club

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. rash — hasty
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — a country
  8. club — for golf
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. land — ground
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. club — for dancing
  15. club — a group
  16. hand — help
  17. rash — a series
  18. net — in sport
  19. chair — a leader
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. net — after costs
  23. hand — in cards
  24. net — for catching

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