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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 120 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 · pit · season · net · race · kid · object · craft

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. craft — a skill
  3. chair — a leader
  4. object — to protest
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. object — an aim
  7. race — a contest
  8. object — a thing
  9. season — of the year
  10. net — for catching
  11. craft — boats
  12. season — in sport
  13. race — the arms race
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. net — after costs
  16. kid — to tease
  17. net — in sport
  18. race — humankind
  19. pit — in a race
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. kid — child
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. pit — a hole
  24. chair — to sit on

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