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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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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: spring · coach · degree · staff · cap · bat · chest · chair

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. spring — of water
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. staff — employees
  6. chest — a box
  7. bat — the animal
  8. chair — a leader
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cap — a lid
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. cap — a hat
  15. chest — of your body
  16. spring — the season
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. staff — employees
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. staff — a stick

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