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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: tear · bound · chair · hide · net · kid · straw · scale

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. tear — from crying
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. bound — obliged
  6. chair — a leader
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. bound — tied together
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. scale — in music
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — for catching
  14. scale — size or range
  15. kid — child
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. net — in sport
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bound — certain

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