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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 116 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: stick · kid · row · content · nail · plane · chair · hand

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. hand — help
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. row — a line
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. kid — to tease
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. content — happy
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. row — to paddle
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. hand — in cards
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. plane — a tool
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. kid — child

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