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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: squash · chair · kid · cabinet · hide · stick · lash · saw

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. saw — the tool
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — the sport
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. squash — to crush
  19. chair — a leader
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. saw — the tool
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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