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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: chair · nail · perch · kid · content · tear · fan · mate

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. tear — from crying
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. chair — a leader
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. content — happy
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. kid — to tease
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. mate — a friend
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. tear — to rip
  15. perch — the fish
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. mate — a partner
  18. tear — from crying
  19. content — the amount
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. mate — to breed
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. nail — on a finger

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