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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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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: board · ground · lash · chair · cell · kid · prune · drill

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. ground — a position
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. ground — the earth
  5. kid — child
  6. board — a committee
  7. cell — a phone
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. drill — army training
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. chair — a leader
  14. kid — to tease
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. cell — in biology
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. ground — crushed
  21. board — to get on
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. drill — the tool

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