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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 120 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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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 · coach · court · kid · stem · chip · mark · rash

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. court — for sport
  3. kid — to tease
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. rash — hasty
  6. chair — a leader
  7. mark — a trace
  8. mark — a grade
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. court — of law
  14. stem — to come from
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. chip — to eat
  17. court — of a king
  18. rash — a series
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — for betting
  22. kid — child
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. stem — of a plant

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