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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 120 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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Word bank
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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — a coil
  4. kid — child
  5. swing — music
  6. chair — a leader
  7. last — to go on
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. spring — the season
  10. last — finally
  11. last — final
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. swing — in golf
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. squash — to crush
  23. swing — to play on
  24. snap — to click

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