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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: hide · march · ball · chair · mate · degree · kid · straw

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. degree — an amount
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. mate — a partner
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. march — music
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. chair — a leader
  15. mate — a friend
  16. degree — temperature
  17. ball — a great time
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. degree — from a university
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ball — a dance

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