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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. clip — a video
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — to tease
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fine — high quality
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. clip — for paper
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. pound — a weight
  19. fine — all right
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. chair — a leader
  24. pound — to hit hard

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