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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 · file · straw · kick · kid · race

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — child
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. file — a line of people
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. file — a tool
  8. race — a contest
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. chair — a leader
  13. kick — in football
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — the arms race
  17. kid — to tease
  18. file — a document

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