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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: file · chair · calf · deal · hand · club · bore · cold

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  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. deal — an agreement
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cold — not warm
  4. hand — help
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. deal — to handle
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bore — to drill
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. club — for dancing
  16. file — a document
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. file — a line of people
  19. club — a group
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. club — for golf
  22. file — a tool
  23. hand — in cards
  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