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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. foot — a measure
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. kid — child
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. clip — to cut
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. chair — a leader
  10. snap — to click
  11. clip — a video
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a friend
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. mate — a partner
  18. fork — in a road
  19. court — for sport
  20. clip — for paper
  21. kid — to tease
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. court — of a king
  24. court — of law

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