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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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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: chair · spring · hide · mouse · season · drill · kid · stand

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. drill — the tool
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. kid — child
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. drill — a practice
  14. kid — to tease
  15. chair — a leader
  16. spring — a coil
  17. season — in sport
  18. spring — the season
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. spring — of water
  22. drill — army training
  23. season — of the year
  24. chair — a professorship

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