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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 124 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. kid — to tease
  3. board — to get on
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wake — a trail
  8. clip — a video
  9. ball — a dance
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. clip — for paper
  12. vault — a safe
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. ball — a great time
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. board — a committee
  19. clip — to cut
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. kid — child

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