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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: kid · lie · degree · chair · cell · content · rush · craft

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. degree — temperature
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. chair — a leader
  8. content — happy
  9. craft — boats
  10. craft — a skill
  11. lie — to recline
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. degree — from a university
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. content — the amount
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. degree — an amount
  20. kid — to tease
  21. cell — in biology
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. kid — child
  24. cell — a phone

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