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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 116 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: ruler · season · fall · board · pitcher · cold · chair · kid

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. kid — child
  3. chair — a leader
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. fall — to drop
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. cold — an illness
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. board — to get on
  13. fall — the season
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. fall — to drop
  16. board — a committee
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. kid — to tease
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — not warm
  21. season — in sport
  22. season — of the year
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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