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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. kid — child
  3. mine — for digging
  4. present — there
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. current — of water
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chair — a leader
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. present — a gift
  11. kid — to tease
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. current — electric
  15. chest — a box
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — the fish
  18. chest — of your body
  19. current — happening now
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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