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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: perch · chair · shower · safe · kid · content · bat · stick

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  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. kid — child
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bat — the animal
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. kid — to tease
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. content — the amount
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. shower — to wash
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. content — happy
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. perch — the fish
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. shower — rain
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. perch — for a bird
  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