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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: chair · row · cap · court · hide · snap · mouse · tube

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. cap — a hat
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of law
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. tube — a container
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a lid
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. row — a line
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a leader
  20. tube — the underground
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. court — of a king
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. row — to paddle

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