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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to click
  6. pop — soda
  7. kid — child
  8. shower — rain
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. game — a match
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. kid — to tease
  13. game — wild animals
  14. pop — to visit
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. shower — to wash
  17. season — in sport
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. chair — a leader
  23. pop — music
  24. season — of the year

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