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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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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: mark · kid · squash · chair · temple · cell · rock · spring

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  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. squash — to crush
  2. rock — music
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. cell — a phone
  9. squash — the sport
  10. mark — a trace
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. spring — of water
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. mark — a grade
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cell — in biology
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. kid — child
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. rock — a stone
  22. spring — the season
  23. rock — to move gently
  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