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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: content · chair · rock · dip · kid · roll · hand · bat

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. hand — in cards
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. content — the amount
  7. roll — a list
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. hand — help
  10. kid — child
  11. rock — music
  12. bat — the animal
  13. roll — a cake
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. chair — a leader
  16. rock — a stone
  17. content — happy
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. dip — to sink
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. chair — a professorship

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