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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 116 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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. charge — a price
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — child
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. chair — a leader
  12. charge — in control
  13. charge — electricity
  14. row — a line
  15. hand — in cards
  16. sharp — clever
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. row — to paddle
  21. hand — help
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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