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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 116 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. court — for sport
  6. chair — a leader
  7. band — a ring
  8. court — of law
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. band — a music group
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — to tease
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. court — of a king
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. deal — to handle
  23. kid — child
  24. band — a rubber band

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