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

Word bank: current · chair · tear · chest · hide · kick

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. chair — a leader
  5. current — of water
  6. tear — from crying
  7. chest — a box
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. current — happening now
  14. chest — of your body
  15. current — electric
  16. kick — in football
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — to sit on

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