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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. current — happening now
  4. last — to go on
  5. current — of water
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. chair — a leader
  9. current — electric
  10. last — finally
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. cell — a phone
  15. ball — a dance
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. last — final
  21. kid — to tease
  22. hand — in cards
  23. cell — in biology
  24. kid — child

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