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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. can — a tin
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. can — a tin
  5. spell — a short time
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — a trail
  8. kid — to tease
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. can — to be able to
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. spell — magic
  16. stem — to come from
  17. spell — letters
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. game — wild animals
  21. chair — a leader
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. hide — to keep secret

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