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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: wave · squash · chest · hand · chair · bowl · kid · stand

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. hand — in cards
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. hand — help
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. squash — to crush
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. squash — the sport
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. kid — to tease
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. kid — child
  24. wave — with your hand

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