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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: net · mark · chair · pit · wind · game · kid · racket

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. pit — in a race
  3. kid — child
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pit — a hole
  6. chair — a leader
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. net — for catching
  9. game — a match
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. net — in sport
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. mark — a trace
  17. mark — a grade
  18. wind — moving air
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. game — wild animals
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. net — after costs
  24. kid — to tease

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