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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: coach · staff · deal · bat · clip · rush · chest · content

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. chest — a box
  2. clip — to cut
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. bat — the animal
  10. content — the amount
  11. clip — a video
  12. staff — a stick
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. content — happy
  16. staff — employees
  17. deal — to handle
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. staff — employees
  22. rush — hurry
  23. bat — for baseball
  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