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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: drill · dip · degree · chair · charge · kick · kid · court

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. charge — electricity
  3. kick — in football
  4. chair — a leader
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. court — of law
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. drill — a practice
  10. degree — from a university
  11. kid — child
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. dip — to sink
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. degree — temperature
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. drill — army training
  21. charge — in control
  22. degree — an amount
  23. charge — a price
  24. drill — the tool

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