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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. hand — help
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. fine — high quality
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. fine — all right
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. hand — in cards
  11. branch — a division
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. chair — a leader
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. kick — in football
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. kid — child
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. kid — to tease

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