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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 · root · rock · arm · kick · cold · pitcher · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. season — in sport
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. kick — in football
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. root — of a word
  10. chair — a leader
  11. season — of the year
  12. rock — music
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. root — the cause
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. root — of a plant
  19. cold — not warm
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. rock — a stone
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. arm — part of the body

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