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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. kid — child
  5. kick — in football
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. bound — tied together
  9. clip — for paper
  10. row — a line
  11. bound — certain
  12. row — to paddle
  13. clip — to cut
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bound — obliged
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. clip — a video
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. wax — to grow
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. kid — to tease
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. jam — in traffic

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