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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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468
Word bank
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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. kid — child
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. wound — an injury
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. craft — boats
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. craft — a skill
  17. cold — an illness
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. tube — a container
  23. cold — not warm
  24. chair — a leader

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