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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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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. kid — to tease
  3. chip — for betting
  4. chair — a leader
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. saw — the tool
  11. spell — magic
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — a short time
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. kid — child
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. chip — to eat
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. saw — the tool
  24. arm — part of the body

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