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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: degree · hide · kick · firm · saw · chair · perch · kid

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. firm — steady
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. kid — child
  7. perch — the fish
  8. saw — the tool
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — from a university
  13. firm — decided
  14. chair — a leader
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kick — in football
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. kid — to tease
  20. firm — a company
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. saw — the tool
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. hide — to keep secret

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