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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 120 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: cold · scale · chair · kid · net · calf · safe · root

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. scale — in music
  3. net — after costs
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. root — of a plant
  9. net — for catching
  10. root — of a word
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. net — in sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. scale — size or range
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. root — the cause
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. kid — to tease
  22. chair — a leader
  23. kid — child
  24. scale — for weighing

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