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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: present · kid · staff · wound · plane · chair · wind · tube

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. staff — employees
  4. wound — an injury
  5. staff — a stick
  6. tube — a container
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. tube — the underground
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. present — the time now
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. present — there
  15. kid — child
  16. staff — employees
  17. present — a gift
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. wound — an injury
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. plane — a tool
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. wind — moving air

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