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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 120 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. chair — a leader
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. kid — child
  9. chest — of your body
  10. stock — goods
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — shares
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. kid — to tease
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. cap — a lid
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cap — of ice
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. chest — a box

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