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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: wave · kid · wind · hide · chair · hand · wake · content

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. content — the amount
  8. hand — help
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. hand — in cards
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. kid — to tease
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wake — a trail
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. content — happy

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