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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: field · kid · toast · chair · ruler · land · cap · tear

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cap — of ice
  4. land — a country
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. toast — bread
  7. kid — child
  8. cap — a lid
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. cap — a hat
  11. field — a subject
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. tear — from crying
  16. land — to come down
  17. field — for sport
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. tear — from crying
  20. field — farmland
  21. tear — to rip
  22. land — ground
  23. chair — a leader
  24. ruler — for measuring

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