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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. kid — to tease
  6. toast — bread
  7. kid — child
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. snap — to click
  11. last — finally
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. field — farmland
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. last — to go on
  19. field — a subject
  20. mine — for digging
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. field — for sport
  23. chair — a leader
  24. last — final

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