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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: tube · chair · key · last · nail · content · cold · coach

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. tube — a container
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. key — in music
  6. tube — the underground
  7. last — final
  8. last — finally
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. key — the most important part
  15. last — to go on
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. content — happy
  21. cold — not warm
  22. key — for a lock
  23. content — the amount
  24. chair — to sit on

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