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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: kick · content · drill · bat · ground · chair · rash · saw

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. saw — the tool
  4. kick — in football
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. rash — hasty
  10. ground — crushed
  11. chair — a leader
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. content — the amount
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — army training
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — the earth
  20. drill — the tool
  21. content — happy
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. rash — a series
  24. bat — the animal

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