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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. kid — child
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cap — a lid
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. tear — from crying
  9. staff — a stick
  10. cap — of ice
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. staff — employees
  13. chair — a leader
  14. cap — a hat
  15. last — to go on
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cell — a phone
  19. staff — employees
  20. tear — from crying
  21. last — finally
  22. cell — in biology
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. cell — in a prison

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