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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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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: chest · pit · kid · cell · coach · chair · calf · bark

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cell — a phone
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. pit — a hole
  6. chair — a leader
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bark — to shout
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. kid — child
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. pit — in a race
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. chest — a box
  22. cell — in biology
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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