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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. kid — child
  3. land — ground
  4. rash — hasty
  5. chest — of your body
  6. can — to be able to
  7. can — a tin
  8. can — a tin
  9. saw — the tool
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — a leader
  12. saw — the tool
  13. key — the most important part
  14. key — in music
  15. land — a country
  16. chest — of your body
  17. key — for a lock
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. chest — a box
  20. rash — a series
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. kid — to tease
  24. land — to come down

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