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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: chair · prune · squash · hide · wind · chip · club · bat

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. bat — the animal
  10. club — a group
  11. prune — to trim
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. squash — the sport
  15. chip — for betting
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. chip — to eat
  19. club — for dancing
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. squash — to crush
  22. chair — a leader
  23. club — for golf
  24. squash — the vegetable

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