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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.

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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: cell · march · coach · straw · dip · kid · spring · chair

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. spring — the season
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. kid — to tease
  10. dip — to sink
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. march — music
  13. spring — a coil
  14. kid — child
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. chair — a leader
  17. cell — a phone
  18. spring — of water
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. cell — in biology
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. coach — a trainer

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