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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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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: straw · racket · game · bore · fall · kid · chair · tube

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. kid — to tease
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. tube — a container
  8. game — wild animals
  9. tube — the underground
  10. game — a match
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bore — to tire
  13. kid — child
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. fall — to drop
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bore — to drill
  22. fall — the season
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. chair — a leader

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