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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. lean — thin
  5. kick — in football
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. charge — in control
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chip — for betting
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. kid — child
  15. charge — electricity
  16. charge — a price
  17. chip — to eat
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bat — the animal
  21. lean — to bend
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. chip — in a computer

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