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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chair · drill · toast · stem · chest · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. toast — bread
  3. drill — army training
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. drill — the tool
  11. kid — child
  12. drill — a practice
  13. chest — of your body
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chest — a box
  18. toast — the most admired

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