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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — a leader
  4. kid — to tease
  5. clip — to cut
  6. spell — a short time
  7. mug — a cup
  8. scale — in music
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. mug — a face
  12. kid — child
  13. mug — to rob
  14. spell — letters
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. scale — size or range
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. clip — for paper
  20. dip — to sink
  21. clip — a video
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. spell — magic

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