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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. drill — the tool
  4. last — final
  5. chair — a leader
  6. last — to go on
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. hand — help
  11. rush — hurry
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. drill — army training
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. kid — child
  18. drill — a practice
  19. bat — the animal
  20. hand — in cards
  21. last — finally
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. kid — to tease
  24. mouse — for a computer

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