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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. chair — a leader
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. mine — for digging
  13. kid — to tease
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. kid — child
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. stem — to come from
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. perch — the fish

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