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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: ground · chair · arm · kid · march · cap · chest · roll

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. march — music
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. kid — to tease
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. march — the month
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. cap — a lid
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — the earth
  14. kid — child
  15. roll — a cake
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chest — of your body
  18. roll — a list
  19. cap — of ice
  20. chest — a box
  21. ground — crushed
  22. march — the month
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. chair — a professorship

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