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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: coach · court · spell · hide · drill · clip · chest · chair

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. drill — a practice
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. clip — for paper
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. chest — of your body
  9. drill — the tool
  10. spell — magic
  11. clip — to cut
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. court — of law
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. drill — army training
  16. spell — letters
  17. court — of a king
  18. chest — a box
  19. clip — a video
  20. court — for sport
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chair — a leader
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. hide — to keep secret

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