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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. chair — a leader
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. perch — the fish
  5. lie — to recline
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. court — of law
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — the animal
  13. saw — the tool
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. court — for sport
  18. scale — size or range
  19. saw — the tool
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. court — of a king
  22. kid — to tease
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — for weighing

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