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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. court — for sport
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. kid — to tease
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pass — a permit
  9. hand — help
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wake — a trail
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. court — of law
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. kid — child
  19. bat — the animal
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. court — of a king
  24. hand — part of the body

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