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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: coach · chest · straw · deal · kid · date · chair · land

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. land — a country
  4. chest — a box
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. chest — of your body
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — child
  14. land — ground
  15. date — the fruit
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. land — to come down
  18. chair — a leader
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. deal — to handle

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