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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: race · rest · chair · stem · wind · coach · ball · degree

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. race — humankind
  4. wind — moving air
  5. ball — a great time
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. rest — a break
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. wind — moving air
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. ball — a dance
  15. race — a contest
  16. degree — temperature
  17. chair — a leader
  18. rest — what's left
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. rest — what's left
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. stem — to come from
  24. race — the arms race

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