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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 124 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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. mug — a face
  4. bulb — for light
  5. clip — to cut
  6. kid — child
  7. board — to get on
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. chair — a leader
  10. board — a committee
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. kid — to tease
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mug — a cup
  16. bulb — for light
  17. clip — for paper
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. cold — not warm
  20. clip — a video
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. mug — to rob

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