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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: drill · content · chest · last · kick · pit · chair · mine

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. pit — in a race
  4. drill — army training
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chair — a leader
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. last — final
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. kick — in football
  12. last — finally
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. pit — a hole
  15. chest — of your body
  16. last — to go on
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. content — the amount
  19. chest — a box
  20. mine — for digging
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. drill — a practice
  23. content — happy
  24. mine — belonging to me

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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