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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. row — a line
  4. chair — a leader
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. row — to paddle
  10. pit — in a race
  11. wound — an injury
  12. degree — temperature
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. board — to get on
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kick — in football
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. pit — a hole
  24. board — a committee

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