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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: season · race · march · drill · net · coach · chair · trunk

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. season — of the year
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. drill — army training
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. season — in sport
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. march — music
  13. chair — a leader
  14. net — for catching
  15. drill — the tool
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. race — the arms race
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — after costs
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — a contest
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. drill — a practice
  24. trunk — of a tree

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