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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: cabinet · kid · chair · last · scale · wind

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — final
  4. kid — to tease
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. chair — a leader
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. wind — moving air
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. kid — child
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. last — finally

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