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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 · bear · kid · stick · wind · pitcher · present · wake

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. present — a gift
  3. chair — a leader
  4. wind — moving air
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. present — there
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bear — the animal
  9. kid — child
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. kid — to tease
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. wind — moving air
  15. present — the time now
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. wake — a trail
  20. bear — the animal
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. pitcher — a jug

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