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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: mate · squash · chair · pound · kid · row

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. mate — a partner
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. squash — the sport
  8. mate — a friend
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. mate — to breed
  13. row — a line
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. pound — a weight
  17. chair — a leader
  18. row — to paddle

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