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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: perch · ball · straw · rule · bat · chest · chair · kid

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. rule — government
  5. kid — child
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. kid — to tease
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. ball — a great time
  11. bat — the animal
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — the fish
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. ball — a dance
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a leader
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rule — a law
  23. chest — a box
  24. chair — a professorship

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