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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. pit — a hole
  8. chair — a leader
  9. staff — employees
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. staff — a stick
  15. swing — to play on
  16. swing — in golf
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. staff — employees
  19. dip — to sink
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. pit — in a race
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. swing — music

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