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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.

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: chair · capital · game · nail · coach · racket · last · clip

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. chair — a leader
  3. capital — money
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. game — wild animals
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. clip — a video
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. capital — a city
  14. last — final
  15. last — to go on
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. clip — to cut
  22. last — finally
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. clip — for paper

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