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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. kid — child
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. bound — obliged
  6. field — farmland
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. spring — a coil
  9. snap — to click
  10. field — for sport
  11. kid — to tease
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bound — certain
  14. bound — tied together
  15. chair — a leader
  16. hand — help
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — the season
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. field — a subject
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. pass — a permit
  24. hand — in cards

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