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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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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: bat · kick · mate · sharp · wind · chair · cap · row

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. cap — a hat
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cap — a lid
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wind — moving air
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. chair — a leader
  11. sharp — clever
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — to paddle
  14. mate — a friend
  15. kick — in football
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. mate — to breed
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. cap — of ice
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. row — a line
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bat — the animal
  24. wind — moving air

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