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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chest · degree · kid · bowl · can · shower · chair · game

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. can — to be able to
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. chest — of your body
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. shower — rain
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. degree — temperature
  13. can — a tin
  14. degree — an amount
  15. game — wild animals
  16. chest — of your body
  17. can — a tin
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. shower — to wash
  20. kid — to tease
  21. chest — a box
  22. degree — from a university
  23. chair — a leader
  24. game — a match

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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