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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 116 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: wound · bore · chair · charge · kid · branch · pit · bowl

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. kid — child
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. charge — electricity
  6. wound — an injury
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. pit — a hole
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. branch — a division
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. pit — in a race
  18. bore — to drill
  19. charge — a price
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bore — to tire
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. wound — an injury
  24. charge — in control

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