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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: mate · ground · kid · chair · lash · drill · calf · race

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. mate — to breed
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. ground — a position
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. drill — a practice
  11. ground — the earth
  12. mate — a partner
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. ground — crushed
  15. kid — to tease
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. chair — a leader
  19. race — humankind
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. kid — child
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — army training

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