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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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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. current — electric
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. prune — to trim
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. current — happening now
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. perch — the fish
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. kid — child
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. prune — to trim
  20. row — a line
  21. row — to paddle
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. current — of water

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